WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.9% of WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after purchasing an additional 287,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the 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 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 quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $169.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.63. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.62.

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.