Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lowered by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,904 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.3% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $44,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 349,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,622,000 after acquiring an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Apple by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 792,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $198,527,000 after purchasing an additional 71,509 shares during the period. Twin City Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Apple by 96.6% in the 4th quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. Clune & Associates LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $7,297,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $179,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $202.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple Company 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.