First Merchants Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First Merchants Corp trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,967 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,213 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.2% of First Merchants Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $56,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.79. 51,328,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.77 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $219.65 and a 200 day moving average of $230.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

About Apple

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.