Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 5,631 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,604 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,631 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of Verity & Verity LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $31,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spring Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 64,825 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,233,000 after buying an additional 5,046 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates LLC now owns 7,386 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc grew its stake in Apple by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 27,065 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,314,000 after buying an additional 3,104 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 28,692 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,693,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in Apple by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,820 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $235.74. The stock had a trading volume of 47,184,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,560,264. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $238.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.88.

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.