Vista Investment Partners LLC Sells 329 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vista Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 329 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.7% of Vista Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 80,667 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,201,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 59,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,880,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the period. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,026 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Park Edge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 11,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Finally, Regency Capital Management Inc. DE raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 29,245 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $212.69 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

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.