Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Buys 24,120 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 367,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,120 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.2% of Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $50,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 6,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Aufman Associates Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Aufman Associates Inc now owns 7,674 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.4% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $144.43 and its 200 day moving average is $145.41. The company 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on shares of Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Fundamental Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Apple from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.