Foster Group Inc. Buys 892 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Foster Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,105 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.3% of Foster Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $34,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $218.27 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.42. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.