Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $4.08 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,901 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,294 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.9% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $239.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.