Thomasville National Bank Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Thomasville National Bank decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,665 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.0% of Thomasville National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $173.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $181.68 and its 200 day moving average is $182.73. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.98 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

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.