West Branch Capital LLC Has $34.40 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 11.5% of West Branch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $34,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its holdings in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

AAPL opened at $210.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $204.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.27.

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.