Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 82,622 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 43.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 274,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,622 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,695,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $278.28 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.03.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Melius upped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.