Avitas Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,028 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,739 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.2% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Avitas Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $45,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.05.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $6.92 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $181.46. 160,161,424 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,782,650. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $228.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

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.