GDS Wealth Management Buys 11,894 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

GDS Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,647 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,894 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.4% of GDS Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.19 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $230.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.43.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.