42,877 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Bought by CFO Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• CFO Capital Management LLC bought 42,877 shares of Apple in the fourth quarter, a stake valued at about $11.7 million and now its largest position, representing 8.7% of the portfolio.
• Apple continues to attract attention from hedge funds and analysts, with several institutions adding shares and major firms like Bank of America, UBS, and Evercore maintaining bullish ratings; the consensus target price is $314.59.
• The company posted strong recent results, beating earnings and revenue estimates last quarter, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share while shares recently traded near $298.

CFO Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 42,877 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $11,657,000. Apple accounts for about 8.7% of CFO Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $298.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $289.73 and a 200 day moving average of $272.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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