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

SFE Investment Counsel increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,071 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.1% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $235.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $226.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.33. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.