Dogwood Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,101 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 13.5% during the first quarter, now holding 9,259 shares valued at approximately $2,057,000.
• Wall Street analysts have a positive outlook for Apple, with an average price target of $237.37 and several analysts, including DA Davidson and Citigroup, maintaining a buy rating.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, and the board has approved a $100 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.

Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,259 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.1% of Dogwood Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its stake in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $158,067,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.42 on Friday, reaching $232.14. 39,382,353 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 58,935,340. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.08. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.