BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 17,912 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,486,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.6% of BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,972,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $1.04 on Friday, reaching $198.53. The stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,093,894. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $208.09 and a 200-day moving average of $227.36. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.