JGP Wealth Management LLC Has $51.24 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 219,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,945 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.6% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $51,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $237.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $229.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.59. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.