Weil Company Inc. Buys 13,879 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Weil Company Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,124 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,879 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 9.8% of Weil Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Weil Company Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.89 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $211.32 and its 200-day moving average is $228.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

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.