Citizens & Northern Corp Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Citizens & Northern Corp lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,237 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,631 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.6% of Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Overbrook Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Apple by 48.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Finally, Montis Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,640 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stephens set a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AAPL opened at $308.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $311.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $269.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

About Apple

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.