PFS Investments Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

PFS Investments Inc. raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,410 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,612 shares during the quarter. PFS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 237,910,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $32,527,162,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831,418 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,889,649,000 after purchasing an additional 9,411,018 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,097,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,915 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.1% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,001,469,000 after purchasing an additional 8,716,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $148.50 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $144.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.54. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cowen dropped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Fundamental Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.