Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,540,955 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,698 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $385,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $214.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $232.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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