Heritage Wealth Advisors Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Heritage Wealth Advisors reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 269,976 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 16,537 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.4% of Heritage Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Heritage Wealth Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $67,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $2,150,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $147,000. Parametrica Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Core Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 68,361 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $17,119,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, America First Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,040 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 5,042 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $3.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.92. The stock had a trading volume of 46,447,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,081,504. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $201.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

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.