Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Increased by Gould Capital LLC

Gould Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,714 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.2% of Gould Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Gould Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC grew 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 valued at $4,178,590,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,342 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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 valued at $16,889,649,000 after purchasing an additional 9,411,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,716,964 shares in the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

AAPL opened at $155.85 on Friday. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $146.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.45. The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Fundamental Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

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.