Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lessened by Strategic Blueprint LLC

Strategic Blueprint LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 614 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,343 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,658 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 63,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,046,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 36,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,754,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 19,185 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,041,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $237.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.