WealthPLAN Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 26.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,352 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 82,210 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 7.3% of WealthPLAN Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. WealthPLAN Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $54,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business'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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $229.98. 68,239,505 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,481,172. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $241.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 0.43%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.85.

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.