Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lifted by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 847,112 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 20,751 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.5% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $188,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in 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 buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

AAPL traded up $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 48,631,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,497,198. 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 twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $203.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.