Archer Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,684 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Archer Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,684 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,203,000. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 130,045 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $32,566,000 after acquiring an additional 7,813 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 52,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,047,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. GEN Financial Management INC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $462,000. Finally, Vantage Point Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $5,521,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $230.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.36. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

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.