Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Blossom Wealth Management

Blossom Wealth Management grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,526 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Apple makes up 6.0% of Blossom Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Blossom Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Nelson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 100,026 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,947 shares during the period. Fingerlakes Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Fingerlakes Wealth Management Inc. now owns 36,113 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,953,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 196,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $37,824,000 after purchasing an additional 5,064 shares during the period. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 69,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,291,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R. W. Roge & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. R. W. Roge & Company Inc. now owns 19,882 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $181.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.