Blue Trust Inc. Has $37.73 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.0% during the first quarter, holding a total of 169,861 shares valued at approximately $37.73 million.
• Apple's current consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $234.94, amidst varying ratings from analysts including upgrades and downgrades by Jefferies Financial Group and Barclays.
• The company announced a recent quarterly dividend increase to $0.26 per share and initiated a $100 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,861 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $37,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.1%

AAPL stock traded down $2.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.05. The company had a trading volume of 43,674,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $205.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.94.

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.