Westpac Banking Corp Has $98.05 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 391,534 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,220 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.5% of Westpac Banking Corp's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $98,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 155,407 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Martin Worley Group purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,626,000. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,087,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in Apple by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 65,788 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,475,000 after purchasing an additional 30,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 25,427 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,367,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James reduced their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $198.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,546,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,449,083. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $200.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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.