Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 127,013 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,831 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 9.4% of Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $248.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $232.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.88. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $250.80.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.