23,403 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Bought by Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV

Key Points

• Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV bought 23,403 shares of Apple in the fourth quarter, a stake valued at about $6.36 million. Apple now makes up roughly 4.0% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 11th-largest holding.
• Large institutional investors remain heavily invested in Apple, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, and Geode adding to their positions. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds own about 67.73% of Apple’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Apple, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59. Recent reports also point to price increases, AI-related product development, and strong supply-chain positioning as key themes.

Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,403 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,362,000. Apple comprises approximately 4.0% of Southern Capital Services Inc. ADV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.59.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $298.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50-day moving average price is $289.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.91. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.85 and a 1 year high of $317.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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