Westpac Banking Corp Buys 106,137 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,155,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 106,137 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.5% of Westpac Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $297,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Apple by 53.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,590,000 after buying an additional 10,471,342 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Apple by 8.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,889,649,000 after buying an additional 9,411,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after buying an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in Apple by 12.1% during the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,001,469,000 after buying an additional 8,716,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $153.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $179.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $142.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The company had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Apple from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.94.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.