Heartland Bank & Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,289 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,583 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.5% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares in the last quarter. Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,482,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after purchasing an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.60.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record June-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, and diluted EPS of $2.02, exceeding Wall Street expectations. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s large installed base, strong hardware demand and potential consumer-AI opportunities remain long-term supports. Some analysts remain bullish: TD Cowen raised its price target to $400, while other firms maintained Buy or Overweight ratings despite trimming estimates. Analyst raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, payable August 13 to shareholders of record August 10. Apple also continues to emphasize an AI strategy that requires less capital spending than the infrastructure-heavy approach used by some peers. Apple Q3 financial results

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $308.91 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $309.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.60. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $201.50 and a one year high of $344.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.