Westend Capital Management LLC Invests $222,000 in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,295 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $192.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.46. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

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.