Jackson Wealth Management LLC Sells 88,207 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Jackson Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 44.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,754 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 88,207 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.0% of Jackson Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Jackson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price target on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $226.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $220.32 and a 200-day moving average of $194.44. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.