WestEnd Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.2% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $47,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.5% in the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $190.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $223.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $231.33. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.