Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by GSB Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• GSB Wealth Management LLC reduced its Apple Inc. holdings by 3.6% in Q2, owning 44,966 shares valued at approximately $9.23 million, making Apple the firm's fourth-largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including Avid Wealth Partners LLC and Andina Capital Management LLC, have increased their stakes in Apple, with Andina Capital raising its holdings by 209.2% in Q1.
• Brokerages have raised their price targets for Apple, with Tigress Financial setting a new target of $305.00 and JPMorgan Chase raising theirs to $280.00, indicating strong analyst support for the stock.

GSB Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,966 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,701 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.2% of GSB Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. GSB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $258.02 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.

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