Wedmont Private Capital Has $59.37 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,656 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.1% of Wedmont Private Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Apple were worth $59,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital lowered 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.85.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $245.55. The stock had a trading volume of 53,102,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,742,392. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $240.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.