Anchor Investment Management LLC Has $35.51 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Anchor Investment Management trimmed its Apple stake by 2% in the fourth quarter, though the fund still held 130,632 shares worth about $35.5 million. Apple remains its third-largest position and makes up roughly 2.9% of the portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment on Apple remains constructive overall, with analysts assigning an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $314.59. Recent commentary has been mixed, however, as some firms reiterated bullish views while others maintained neutral or underweight ratings.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, posting $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, both above expectations, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share. The company’s stock was trading near $298, close to its 52-week high.

Anchor Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,632 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,688 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.9% of Anchor Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Anchor Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $35,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew 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 during the period. Orion Investment Co increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $289.73 and a 200 day moving average of $272.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

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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