Vantage Investment Partners LLC Sells 340 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 164,975 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.1% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of AAPL opened at $207.57 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $205.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.98.

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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.94.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.