Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,421 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,564 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,421 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 11.3% of Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $3,148,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $563,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 105,200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,072,000 after acquiring an additional 4,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. now owns 11,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $7,215,515.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,569,202.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $172.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $176.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.62%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Apple

(Get Rating)

Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.