City State Bank cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,159 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.8% of City State Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. City State Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,590,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,342 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,889,649,000 after purchasing an additional 9,411,018 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,001,469,000 after acquiring an additional 8,716,964 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Fundamental Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.24.
Apple Trading Up 0.7 %
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. 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 previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend 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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