Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Continental Investors Services Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Continental Investors Services Inc. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 6,300.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 400,241 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 393,988 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.3% of Continental Investors Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Continental Investors Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP lifted its holdings in Apple by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Fundamental Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.24.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $155.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.45. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $179.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its 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). Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio 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.