Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is West Chester Capital Advisors Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

West Chester Capital Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,684 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,043 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.5% of West Chester Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. West Chester Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MKT Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 3D L Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. 3D L Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Weik Capital Management lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 25,238 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 26,125 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,572,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Atlantic Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $174.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $175.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.58. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $176.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.30%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.