WFA Asset Management Corp Acquires 4,121 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,730 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,121 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.8% of WFA Asset Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. WFA Asset Management Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $8,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth 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 stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth 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 stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.27.

Apple Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $211.16. 39,713,698 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,349,236. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.