Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,677 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 117,157 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,677 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.8% of Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $270.04 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.37. The company has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

About Apple

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.