Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 1,072 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.7% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Americana Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 186,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $43,353,000 after buying an additional 15,079 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 10.8% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 238,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $55,665,000 after buying an additional 23,344 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 121,519 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the period. Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, W Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 38,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.