Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Raised by Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC

Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,101 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.4% of Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Puff Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,236,000. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 16,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,162,000 after buying an additional 2,357 shares during the last quarter. Highland Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Highland Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,444,519 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $361,737,000 after acquiring an additional 6,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Apple stock opened at $196.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.77 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.