Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Waverton Investment Management Ltd

Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,022 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,277 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.6% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $85,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 387.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares during the period. WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $80,057,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at $11,776,000. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 5,488 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 617,582 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 6,567 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $235.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $225.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.38.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple Company 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.