Safeguard Financial LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 631 shares during the quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 75.4% in 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. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5,935.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 229,929 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, 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. Two investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.24.
Apple Stock Up 1.5 %
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). The business 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.62%.
About Apple
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.
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