Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Has $47.48 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,726 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,888 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.9% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI's holdings in Apple were worth $47,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $213.88. The company had a trading volume of 38,805,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,464,392. The company's fifty day moving average price is $204.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.58. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

About Apple

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.