First National Trust Co Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First National Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 591,107 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,317 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.3% of First National Trust Co's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. First National Trust Co's holdings in Apple were worth $137,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,496,738,000 after buying an additional 3,416,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $229.98. The stock had a trading volume of 68,239,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,481,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $241.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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 for 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 company's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.