Biltmore Wealth Management LLC Sells 206 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Biltmore Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of Biltmore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.00 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.40. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.