BluePointe Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BluePointe Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,733 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.1% of BluePointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. BluePointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.99.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $223.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Apple Company 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.