Blue Trust Inc. Sells 37,970 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 166,555 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 37,970 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.5% of Blue Trust Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

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.