Verus Capital Partners LLC Purchases 463,896 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 228.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 666,659 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 463,896 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 17.3% of Verus Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $92,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP grew its stake in Apple by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $152.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.