Citizens & Northern Corp Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Citizens & Northern Corp increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,417 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,838 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.1% of Citizens & Northern Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Citizens & Northern Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $15,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,960,205 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $490,874,000 after acquiring an additional 29,348 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,303,847 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,829,029,000 after purchasing an additional 213,139 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC grew its position in Apple by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 37,341 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,943 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,024,242 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,007,565,000 after buying an additional 149,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,009,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $204.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $166.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $217.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush lowered 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.

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