Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Purchases 79 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 35,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Trueblood Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in 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. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $239.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $237.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.03. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.