Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Boosted by Arlington Trust Co LLC

Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,044 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 3.5% of Arlington Trust Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.15 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.87 and a 200 day moving average of $231.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple 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.