Avitas Wealth Management LLC Has $42.59 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,151 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.0% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $42,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 51,559 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,013,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Apple by 3.1% during the third quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 49,109 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Better Money Decisions LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.1% in the third quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 17,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,156,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23.0% in the third quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 32,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,599,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 220,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,870,000 after buying an additional 14,616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

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.