Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,822 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,210,000. Apple comprises approximately 1.1% of Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $4.42 on Friday, reaching $201.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $202.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.