Winebrenner Capital Management LLC Makes New $5.20 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Winebrenner Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,761 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,199,000. Apple accounts for about 4.0% of Winebrenner Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James decreased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $7.97 on Friday, hitting $205.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,891,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,771,720. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $212.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.