Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Reduced by Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC

Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.9% of Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 99.2% in the third quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,050 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,309,000 after buying an additional 13,472 shares during the period. Ground Swell Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC now owns 8,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5,316 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 555,463 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $129,423,000 after purchasing an additional 4,749 shares during the period. KG&L Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the third quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 58,256 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 11,881,140 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,768,306,000 after buying an additional 805,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.1 %

AAPL opened at $242.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.57. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.