Cibc World Market Inc. Acquires 117,592 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,313,593 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,592 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.3% of Cibc World Market Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,080,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Apple Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $221.53 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $231.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.