CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 25,790 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,433,734 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 25,790 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 7.3% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $276,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,020,609,000 after purchasing an additional 287,329 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.62.

Apple Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $172.86 and its 200-day moving average is $181.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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