Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Purchases 30,346 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,090,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,346 shares during the period. Apple makes up 6.6% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $254,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after acquiring an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $130,629,000 after purchasing an additional 17,519 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,464,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $422,527,000 after purchasing an additional 220,502 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 939,572 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $159,755,000 after purchasing an additional 20,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the first quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 138,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $233.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $251.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.