Investors lured to Apple after recent decline

Investors are starting to jump on Apple stock, motivated by its recent slide, according to many sources, including brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. The firm actually said that “more of its clients own Apple now than ever before”, which has been fueled in part by first-time buyers lured by low prices.

Apple (AAPL) has always been a popular stock, but is now TD Ameritrade’s second most popular stock behind longtime favorite GE. However, when it comes to actual amounts invested, Apple is in the lead, and it isn’t close.

So, Apple’s stock has dropped and seems sure to make a comeback, if past performance is any indication. What else has led to the rush to buy Apple shares, though?

One big reason has to be the recent plan to over double the money Apple plans to give back to shareholders, whether through dividend payments or share buybacks. The plan is to return $100 billion to shareholders over the next couple of years, which has brought larger hedge funds like Greenlight Capital back into the mix in a big way.

Still, it can’t all just be dividends and other features that is bringing investors to Apple in a big way. Certainly, the company’s longstanding reputation for innovation and trend-setting means that even if recent offerings haven’t wowed the public like before, the faith is still there.

TD Ameritrade also said that other stocks which have been down lately have grown in popularity, including Alcoa, Caterpillar, and Cliffs Natural Resources. Many TD Ameritrade investors have also decided to sell high on stocks by heavy-hitters such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and McDonald’s, which saw its stock hit an all-time high last month. Hewlett-Packard and Home Depot are also recent high-fliers that TD Ameritrade clients have been selling, expecting a leveling off to happen sometime in the near future.