Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Increased by TTP Investments Inc.

TTP Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 117,238 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,561 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 10.3% of TTP Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. TTP Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $212.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $233.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.60. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.