Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 32,672 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 185,781 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,287,000 after acquiring an additional 20,461 shares in the last quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,153 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,968 shares during the period. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

AAPL opened at $202.52 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.