West Branch Capital LLC Has $38.75 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 12.4% of West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

Apple Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $216.98 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $235.80 and its 200-day moving average is $234.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.