Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is WNY Asset Management LLC’s 9th Largest Position

WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,533 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,222 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.1% of WNY Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. WNY Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush lifted their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.47.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $212.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.77 and a 200 day moving average of $184.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

About Apple

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.