Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lessened by WESPAC Advisors LLC

WESPAC Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,428 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,274 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.2% of WESPAC Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. WESPAC Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.9%

AAPL stock opened at $232.56 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $215.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

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.

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