Eastover Investment Advisors LLC Sells 5,137 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,137 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.2% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $227.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.30.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.