Wulff Hansen & CO. Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,844 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.1% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $224.23 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $226.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Apple Profile

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.