Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,694 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 1.1%, selling 1,694 shares, while still maintaining a significant stake valued at $34.08 million, which represents 6.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for Apple, with Barclays setting it at $180.00 and Goldman Sachs at $266.00, indicating overall positive market sentiment for the stock.
• Apple recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26, indicating solid financial performance and shareholder returns.

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,402 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,694 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.2% of Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $34,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Barclays upped their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $234.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $221.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.

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