Biltmore Wealth Management LLC Sells 206 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Biltmore Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.7% of Biltmore Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gentry Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $876,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

AAPL opened at $229.00 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.