Westbourne Investments Inc. Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Westbourne Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,321 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,397 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.9% of Westbourne Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Westbourne Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.8%

Apple stock opened at $234.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.80.

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.