Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Wedgewood Partners Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,758 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.3% of Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $38,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $3,331,000. Fortress Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.1% in the second quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,458,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 136,338 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after buying an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Golden Road Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.8% in the second quarter. Golden Road Advisors LLC now owns 8,334 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cook Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 136.4% in the second quarter. Cook Wealth LLC now owns 18,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,023,000 after acquiring an additional 10,672 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.13. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.