Heritage Investment Group Inc. Sells 2,098 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Heritage Investment Group Inc. sold 2,098 shares of Apple Inc., decreasing its stake by 11.4%, resulting in a total of 16,335 shares valued at approximately $3.35 million.
• Recent transactions by insiders include CEO Timothy D. Cook selling 129,963 shares and SVP Deirdre O'Brien selling 43,013 shares, leading to significant decreases in their ownership stakes.
• Apple Inc.'s average price target is currently set at $248.29, with ratings reflecting a consensus of "Moderate Buy" based on input from various analysts.

Heritage Investment Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,335 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,098 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Heritage Investment Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Heritage Investment Group Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $3,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

AAPL opened at $249.34 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $240.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week 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 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

About Apple

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.

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