4,224 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Purchased by Aznar Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Aznar Financial Advisors LLC disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Apple, buying 4,224 shares worth about $1.15 million. Apple now makes up roughly 1.1% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 17th-largest holding.
• Apple remains heavily owned by institutional investors, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, Geode, Morgan Stanley, and Norges Bank also holding large stakes. Overall, institutions and hedge funds own 67.73% of Apple’s shares.
• Recent news around Apple is mostly constructive: Bank of America kept a Buy rating with a $380 target, and analysts say Apple is well positioned to handle AI-related memory shortages. However, insiders sold shares in the last quarter, including CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh.

Aznar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,224 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.1% of Aznar Financial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating on Apple and kept a $380 price target, citing Apple’s pricing power, strong supply-chain position, and ability to manage rising memory costs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: President Trump said Apple will work with Intel to design and build chips in the U.S., raising hopes for a domestic supply-chain boost and stronger strategic positioning for Apple. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said Apple is relatively well positioned to weather the AI-driven memory shortage because of its scale, inventory, and supplier relationships, which may help protect hardware margins. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple reportedly plans to raise prices across its product lineup, which could support margins but may also weigh on consumer demand if the increases are too large. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is also reportedly developing new AI wearables and a foldable iPhone for 2027, which supports the long-term product pipeline but is unlikely to affect near-term earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Italy opened a Digital Markets Act probe into Apple’s cloud interoperability practices, adding another regulatory risk for the company in Europe. Article Title

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $196.85 and a one year high of $317.40.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.59.

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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