West Bancorporation Inc. Sells 124 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

West Bancorporation Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,927 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.5% of West Bancorporation Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. West Bancorporation Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $223.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $230.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.28. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a PEG 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

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.