Waycross Partners LLC Has $51.07 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Waycross Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,931 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,174 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.6% of Waycross Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $51,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth about $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $208.37 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $216.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.42. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.15 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple 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.

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