WestEnd Advisors LLC Has $40.48 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WestEnd Advisors LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,296 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.1% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

AAPL stock opened at $229.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $207.88 and its 200 day moving average is $213.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.