Blue Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Blue Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,535 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 16.2% of Blue Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Blue Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $42,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.16.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $220.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.60. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.