West Financial Advisors LLC Sells 236 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

West Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,193 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.8% of West Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. West Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

AAPL opened at $201.08 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.39.

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.