Verus Financial Partners Inc. Has $3.70 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,599 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,348 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.4% of Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.52.

Apple Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $217.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $230.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple 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.