West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,908 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,195 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.0% of West Coast Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. West Coast Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $35,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's 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 owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Apple Trading Up 0.4%
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $213.36. 34,955,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,594,994. The company's 50 day moving average price is $203.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.66. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business 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%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Profile
(
Free Report)
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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