Wedmont Private Capital Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by on Mar 19th, 2023

Wedmont Private Capital reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,593 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.8% of Wedmont Private Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Apple by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,590,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,342 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Apple by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,889,649,000 after purchasing an additional 9,411,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,001,469,000 after purchasing an additional 8,716,964 shares in the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $155.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $146.64 and its 200-day moving average is $145.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Cowen lowered their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Cowen lowered their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Apple in a research note on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.24.

Apple Company Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

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