WMG Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 3,290 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WMG Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,289 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,290 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.9% of WMG Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. WMG Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cfra boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $225.77 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $222.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.