Apple Inc. $AAPL is SFE Investment Counsel's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• SFE Investment Counsel cut its Apple stake by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, but Apple still remains its 3rd largest position and makes up 3.6% of the portfolio.
• Apple continues to draw attention for its AI strategy, with WWDC expected to highlight a Siri overhaul and new AI features that could support its valuation if execution impresses.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Apple: analysts have an average Moderate Buy rating with a $312.82 price target, while the company also beat recent earnings expectations and raised its quarterly dividend.

SFE Investment Counsel trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,997 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,302 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.6% of SFE Investment Counsel's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Apple were worth $23,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking for WWDC to showcase a major Siri overhaul and new AI features, which could help justify a higher valuation if Apple demonstrates stronger product momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s App Store generated more than $1.4 trillion in developer sales and billings last year, reinforcing the scale and stickiness of its Services ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Apple’s AI roadmap and ecosystem strength, with several price-target hikes and Buy calls suggesting upside if the company executes at WWDC. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple approved Poke as the first AI agent on its Messages for Business platform, showing early AI adoption inside its messaging ecosystem, but the near-term financial impact appears limited. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple may use Google cloud servers and Nvidia chips to help power Siri signal a faster AI rollout, though they also highlight Apple’s reliance on outside infrastructure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: UBS warned that App Store growth is decelerating, which matters because App Store revenue is a key driver of Apple’s high-margin Services segment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple agreed to submit India financials in a long-running antitrust case, keeping regulatory risk in focus as authorities move closer to a penalty decision. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $335.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $312.82.

Apple Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $311.24 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.07 and a 12 month high of $316.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business's 50 day moving average is $280.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.11. The company has a market cap of $4.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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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