Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLFree Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,833,094 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 47,935 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.2% of Whittier Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $480,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

AAPL opened at $292.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $262.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.47. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.46 and a twelve month high of $294.76.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.58%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Maxim Group upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.74.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

About Apple

(Free Report)

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

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