Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Bell Bank

Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,994 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 10,065 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.0% of Bell Bank's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Bell Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $17,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 34,486,195 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,035,283,000 after buying an additional 432,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $238.02.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $241.12 and a 200-day moving average of $230.85. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.