Eastern Bank Sells 733 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Eastern Bank reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 441,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 733 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.9% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $84,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 27.7% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.72.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.