Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 187,514 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,571 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.9% of Equitable Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust grew its stake in Apple by 2.4% in the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Weiss Ratings raised Apple from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $275.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $253.91 and its 200-day moving average is $225.75. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $277.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.