Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Westover Capital Advisors LLC

Westover Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 524 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.3% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ring Mountain Capital LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,640,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in Apple by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 931,871 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $233,359,000 after purchasing an additional 340,272 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,511,000. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GR Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. GR Financial Group LLC now owns 11,407 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $212.93 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $207.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital dropped their price target 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

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.