GSB Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

GSB Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,231 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.3% of GSB Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. GSB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 2.3% in the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $150,975,907,000 after purchasing an additional 20,424,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 16,638.6% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $94,566,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500,812 shares in the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total transaction of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $174.21 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $198.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $185.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.79 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.41.

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.