Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,700 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $227.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

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.