Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s Largest Position

Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,880 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.6% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $220.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $231.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

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.