Apple Inc. $AAPL is Biondo Investment Advisors LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Biondo Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its Apple stake by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, but Apple still makes up about 7.1% of the firm’s portfolio and remains its 2nd largest position.
• Several Wall Street firms recently reiterated positive views on Apple, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.
• Apple continues to show solid operating results, including better-than-expected quarterly earnings, rising revenue, and a modest dividend increase, though some investors remain unconvinced by its latest AI/WWDC announcements.

Biondo Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 214,696 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,309 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.1% of Biondo Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $58,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.59.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What's the Path Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here's Why It's Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple's AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.

Apple Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $285.64 and a 200 day moving average of $272.27. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.07 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS 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 given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio 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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