Whittier Trust Co. Buys 66,590 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,792,646 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,590 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.6% of Whittier Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $417,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $588,952,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $251.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average is $224.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.