WESPAC Advisors LLC Has $4.43 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.6% of WESPAC Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parker Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the second quarter. Parker Financial LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,213 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,563,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,076 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $186.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $176.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $89.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.78%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.11, for a total value of $11,279,400.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,483,548.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.11, for a total value of $11,279,400.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,483,548.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 240,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.50, for a total transaction of $41,498,152.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,809,142.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 439,585 shares of company stock valued at $76,485,550. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $222.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.82.

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.