WealthPLAN Partners LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 82,210 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 7.3% of WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $54,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 419,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,726,000 after buying an additional 15,413 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.5% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 660,153 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $153,816,000 after acquiring an additional 16,091 shares during the period. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors raised its position in Apple by 4.2% in the third quarter. Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors now owns 8,591 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth about $298,000. Finally, Once Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 211.8% in the third quarter. Once Capital Management LLC now owns 197,850 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $46,099,000 after purchasing an additional 134,400 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.98 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. 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 business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

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.