White Wing Wealth Management Takes $1.46 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

White Wing Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,888 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of White Wing Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,599,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 5.6% in the third quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 900.1% in the third quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,602,000 after buying an additional 266,003 shares in the last quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. now owns 36,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,245,000 after buying an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.72.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.