Waycross Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Waycross Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,246 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,460 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.1% of Waycross Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $39,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bellwether Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares during the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $876,000. WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $80,057,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,526,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $11,776,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Cfra boosted their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.23.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $222.91 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $227.18 and its 200-day moving average is $212.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.