4,564 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Bought by Sankala Group LLC

Key Points

• Sankala Group LLC disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Apple, buying 4,564 shares valued at about $1.206 million. Apple now represents 1.0% of the fund’s portfolio and its 24th-largest holding.
• Apple reported better-than-expected fiscal Q3 results, with EPS of $2.01 versus $1.95 expected and revenue of $111.18 billion above estimates. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year, and analysts now project 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, bringing the annualized payout to $1.08 and a yield of about 0.4%. Meanwhile, Wall Street remains broadly positive, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $314.59.

Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,564 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,000. Apple accounts for 1.0% of Sankala Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Orion Investment Co lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,902,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ: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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $289.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.91. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.85 and a 52-week high of $317.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple 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 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 represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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