Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s Largest Position

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,844 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,690 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 9.3% of Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30,509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,426,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 21,562 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 25,131 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,293,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Family Firm Inc. now owns 37,367 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,870,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrueWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.76.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

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.