W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 567,566 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,051 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 14.2% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $132,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $31,527,000. RPS Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $18,500,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 731,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $154,074,000 after purchasing an additional 87,866 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 128,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Apple by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 67,259 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,166,000 after purchasing an additional 10,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $229.82 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 target price (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

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.