Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,795 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,683 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.5% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $86,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $4.70 on Friday, hitting $254.49. 145,580,875 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $255.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.97 and a 200-day moving average of $225.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.