KLK Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

KLK Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 30,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,242,000. Apple comprises 5.5% of KLK Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Apple by 53.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,590,000 after buying an additional 10,471,342 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.2% in the 2nd 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.1% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $151.03 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $179.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued 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 net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Cowen reduced their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Wedbush raised their target price on Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $175.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.18.

Apple 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.