Rheos Capital Works Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rheos Capital Works Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 24,500 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $223.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $230.55 and its 200 day moving average is $233.43.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.52.

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.