Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Buys 7,324 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 32.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,176 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,324 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. United Services Automobile Association raised its position in Apple by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 613,543 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,792,000 after purchasing an additional 14,476 shares during the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 228.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 666,659 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $92,132,000 after purchasing an additional 463,896 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its position in Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 243,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,592,000 after purchasing an additional 9,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 149,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,610,000 after acquiring an additional 24,823 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Cowen reduced 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. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $152.59 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $179.61.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.62%.

Apple Company 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.