Hershey Financial Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $226.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.