Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Waycross Investment Management Co

Waycross Investment Management Co grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,692 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.0% of Waycross Investment Management Co’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Waycross Investment Management Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.30. The company had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

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.