Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Buckingham Strategic Partners

Buckingham Strategic Partners boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 31.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 287,239 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,275 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.3% of Buckingham Strategic Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Buckingham Strategic Partners’ holdings in Apple were worth $39,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 53.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,590,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,342 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,889,649,000 after purchasing an additional 9,411,018 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 12.1% during 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 buying an additional 8,716,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Apple stock opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $179.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $144.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Fundamental Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.