waypoint wealth counsel Has $7.73 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

waypoint wealth counsel grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,877 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.0% of waypoint wealth counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. waypoint wealth counsel’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,251,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,816,031,000 after buying an additional 1,902,426 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $158,067,000. Apexium Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Apple by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 210,899 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $52,813,000 after acquiring an additional 20,926 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 250,356 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $58,333,000 after purchasing an additional 45,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,823,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $215.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

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.