CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,088 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,136 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Fenimore Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 13,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 33,119 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,294,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,671,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 182,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $45,669,000 after acquiring an additional 7,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspiring Ventures LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,747,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $214.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

About Apple

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.