Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lessened by Whitener Capital Management Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 18th, 2023

Whitener Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,762 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,292 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.9% of Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. DDFG Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $3,315,000. Panoramic Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $1,038,000. Investments & Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $386,000. Orin Green Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 13,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 84,534 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total transaction of $32,984.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,299,192.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total value of $32,984.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,299,192.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.40.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $184.92 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $186.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.29. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.30%.

Apple Profile

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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.