W Advisors LLC Sells 197 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

W Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,877 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.1% of W Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. W Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Align Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total value of $9,261,412.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.74.

Apple Stock Up 0.7 %

Apple stock opened at $172.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.40. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $176.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.30%.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.