Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Blueprint Investment Partners LLC

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 28.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,900 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 17,689 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.2% of Blueprint Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $20,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $202.21. 8,967,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,938,325. 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 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $201.99 and its 200 day moving average is $224.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

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.