West Branch Capital LLC Has $27.31 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,871 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 12.8% of West Branch Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $172.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $176.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

About Apple

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.