Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.9% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5,935.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 229,929 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $155.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $179.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cowen cut their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Fundamental Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

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.