Verum Partners LLC Sells 317 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Verum Partners LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,882 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.7% of Verum Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $220.84 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.