Almanack Investment Partners LLC. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Almanack Investment Partners cut its Apple stake by 42.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,868 shares and leaving it with 16,187 shares worth about $4.4 million.
• Apple continues to attract mostly positive analyst attention, with firms like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Wedbush reiterating bullish views; the stock’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $308.74.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26.

Almanack Investment Partners LLC. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 42.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,187 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,868 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.7% of Almanack Investment Partners LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Almanack Investment Partners LLC.'s holdings in Apple were worth $4,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $296.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $308.74.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $308.82 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $269.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.63. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $311.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Apple

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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