Invst LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,888 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,673 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.4% of Invst LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Invst LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. MKT Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP raised its holdings 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 worth $867,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Aufman Associates Inc lifted its position 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 during the period. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd 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 period. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. National Bank Financial reduced their target price on Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 20th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $155.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.17 and a 12-month high of $179.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.13 and a 200-day moving average of $145.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings 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 posted its 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 business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.62%.

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.