Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC Makes New $11.20 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 44,735 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $11,203,000. Apple makes up approximately 7.9% of Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% during 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. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Apple stock 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 PE ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.