20,408 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by Vista Investment Partners II LLC

Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,408 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,111,000. Apple comprises approximately 3.0% of Vista Investment Partners II LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $4.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $202.09. 59,113,086 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,963,045. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $205.87 and a 200-day moving average of $226.43. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.