Warren Buffet has boosted its stake in Apple Inc
In 13F filing, Berkshire Hathaway ownership disclosures showed that Warren Buffet has nearly quadrupled his position in Apple Inc.(NASDAQ: AAPL) in the fourth quarter. Now Berkshire is the single largest holder of Apple with about a 2.5% stake in the company. It currently holds approx. 133 million shares values at around $17 billion.
Tax rate cut impact on Apple
Donald Trump has indicated that it intends to cut tax rate from 35% to 15%-20% the and that is going to be benefited for companies like Apple with huge balance sheet. Furthermore the Repatriation Holiday that would allow companies to bring overseas cash back home without having to pay a significant amount of tax on it. Apple has over $200 billion in offshore cash it could bring back to the U.S. Apple derives majority of its earnings from foreign sources and has GAAP taxes at 25% which is higher. If tax rate drops and repatriation benefits accrues, it would lead to a major share bump as much as of ~$30 per share.
Sale of shares by Former VP at Apple:
Former Vice President Al Gore, also an Apple board member, sold 215,437 shares of Apple stock worth $29.5 million last week as per filing with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier this month, gore has also exercised options on 70,000 shares of the company.
Rumors about the new launch
It is in rumors that Apple Inc is planning to launch 10.5 inch iPad with a resolution of 2224×1668. The rumors also claim that the device will have 264 PPL and will take up same space as the 9.7 inch iPad Pro due to a slimmer bezel. The device is expected to be launched in March or April 2017.
Change in iPhone warranty policy
Apple is changing its stance on iPhone screen repairs and warranties, 9to5Mac notes. The policy change is effected so that third party screen repairs of iPhone devices no longer void the warranty.
Price movement
As on Feb 27h, 2017, Apple stock is up almost 41% in the last one year (Source: Google finance). The consensus estimates on the stock is a “Strong Buy” with a target price of $140 with a higher range of $185 per share (Source: NASDAQ as on February 27, 2017). The stock is currently trading at one year forward P/E of 15.34x.