Venture Visionary Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 349,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.5% of Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $81,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average is $224.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $251.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.