Vantage Point Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 22,048 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Vantage Point Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 22,048 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,521,000. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Vantage Point Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Apple by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 264,740 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $61,684,000 after acquiring an additional 16,478 shares during the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,146,000. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 40,046 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.26.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $14.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $188.38. The company had a trading volume of 125,530,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,363,953. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $229.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.