WESCAP Management Group Inc. Lowers Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

WESCAP Management Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 40,955 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.1% of WESCAP Management Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. WESCAP Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its position in Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Argus set a $325.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.53.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $280.70 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $265.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

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.