Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 158,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,749 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.4% of Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $37,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted 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 valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $255.65.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 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 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.