Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,719 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.2% of WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.