Schoolcraft Capital LLC Acquires 505 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Schoolcraft Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,706 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the quarter. Schoolcraft Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.16 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% 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 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.