Blue Capital Inc. Acquires Shares of 10,540 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Blue Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 10,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,639,000. Apple accounts for 1.9% of Blue Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.4%

Apple stock opened at $196.45 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

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.