Alamar Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alamar Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,219 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Alamar Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Alamar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP boosted its position in Apple by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $152.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $145.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.38. 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 has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a PEG 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 announced 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). The company had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $153.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Two research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.24.

About Apple

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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.