Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Has $8.17 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,790 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.4% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.17.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $216.79 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

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.