American National Bank & Trust Has $45.73 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

American National Bank & Trust lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,243 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.4% of American National Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $45,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after acquiring an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Independent Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Independent Family Office LLC now owns 6,529 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the first quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 299,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $51,434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forbes Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 4.0% during the first quarter. Forbes Financial Planning Inc. now owns 22,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $227.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.