Congress Asset Management Co. MA Acquires 14,197 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,379,592 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 14,197 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.0% of Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Apple were worth $190,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 299,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,993,000 after acquiring an additional 89,865 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,721,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 25,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,501,000 after buying an additional 6,735 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 85,226 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,652,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Finally, Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 151,793 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,978,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

AAPL opened at $153.83 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $179.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $142.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. National Bank Financial cut their price objective on shares of Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.94.

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.