Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,647 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 489 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.9% of Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.63.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $213.32 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $212.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.83. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.