Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 80,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $20,214,000. Apple makes up 16.3% of Chancellor Financial Group WB LP's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
Apple Price Performance
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $200.30. The stock had a trading volume of 53,951,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,512,318. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity at Apple
In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.
While Apple currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that are set to soar in Summer 2025, despite the threat of tariffs and other economic uncertainty. These ten stocks are incredibly resilient and are likely to thrive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
