Apple Inc. $AAPL is Vest Financial LLC's 9th Largest Position

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC trimmed its Apple stake by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, but Apple still ranks as its 9th largest holding at 1.1% of the portfolio, valued at about $84.4 million.
• Apple beat fiscal Q2 expectations, reporting $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, with revenue up 16.6% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share, while analysts remain generally constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of about $310.31.

Vest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,464 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,865 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $84,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $312.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $274.19 and a 200 day moving average of $269.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year high of $313.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% 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 valued at $24,964,305 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying agentic AI could strengthen Apple’s ecosystem and create meaningful new revenue opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple is preparing a major Siri overhaul for WWDC, including a new app-like experience designed to compete more directly with ChatGPT-style assistants, which could improve sentiment around Apple’s AI roadmap.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary continue to argue that Apple’s installed base, privacy controls, payments, and device ownership give it a strong position if AI assistants become a primary interface for search, commerce, and productivity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s stock is already near record territory, so some of the optimism around AI and WWDC may already be reflected in the share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles note that Apple is still viewed by parts of the market as an AI laggard versus rivals, and that its valuation is already rich, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group raised Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.31.

Apple 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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