Verum Partners LLC Sells 996 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Verum Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 996 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.1% of Verum Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 12.1% during the second quarter. Legacy Solutions LLC now owns 3,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 118,933 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.1% during the second quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 5.7% during the second quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,621,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,444,197 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,322,156,000 after purchasing an additional 18,122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $256.48 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $234.84 and its 200 day moving average is $215.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $205.82 to $205.16 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 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.