Stegner Investment Associates Inc. Purchases New Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stegner Investment Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,647 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000. Apple accounts for about 0.4% of Stegner Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.47 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

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.