First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 156 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $233.28 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $240.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

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.