Waverton Investment Management Ltd Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 470,328 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 50,893 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.9% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $117,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $87,501,000 after buying an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 32.9% in the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,518,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank lifted its position in Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $30,905,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush cut Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.17.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $7.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $205.35. 100,891,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,192,627. 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 fifty day moving average of $212.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

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

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.