WESPAC Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WESPAC Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,507 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.4% of WESPAC Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headinvest LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Apple by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in Apple by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $115,284,000 after buying an additional 24,634 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $172.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.60. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.00.

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.