Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $12.41 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,688 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.5% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.52. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

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.