Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lessened by Heritage Wealth Management Inc.

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,813 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,749 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.6% of Heritage Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Heritage Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $16,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $230.11. The company had a trading volume of 19,336,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,990,016. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company's 50-day moving average price is $213.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.93. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.