Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.4% of Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $32,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $560,388,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $207.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $187.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.81. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued 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 Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.