Strategic Blueprint LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Strategic Blueprint LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,183 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 31,579 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.3% of Strategic Blueprint LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baker Boyer National Bank boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $271.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.