Heartland Bank & Trust Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,942 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,224 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.6% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $169.02 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

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.