West Bancorporation Inc. Has $3.15 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

West Bancorporation Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,936 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.3% of West Bancorporation Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. West Bancorporation Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 83,965 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,619 shares of company stock worth $101,352,630 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $225.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.50. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Cfra increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.76.

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.