Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,283 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,436 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.0% of WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $230.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.36.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

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.