First Community Trust NA Sells 775 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First Community Trust NA decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 775 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 11.2% of First Community Trust NA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. First Community Trust NA’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.00. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.