Apple Inc. $AAPL is Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its Apple stake 19.3% in Q4 to 267,241 shares (valued at $72.65M), making AAPL its 10th-largest holding and 1.4% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Apple beat quarterly estimates with $2.84 EPS and $143.76B revenue (up 15.7% YoY), and analysts keep a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $297.58 and several upward revisions (JPMorgan to $325).
• Potential headwinds include insider sales by CEO Tim Cook (~64,949 shares, $16.5M), ongoing legal and regulatory challenges in China and the Epic Games dispute, and reported engineering delays for a foldable iPhone that could affect future launches.

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,241 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 43,188 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.4% of Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $72,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Overbrook Management Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the second quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,740,000 after buying an additional 2,920 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the third quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $101,301,000 after buying an additional 8,446 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 48.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $363,256,000 after buying an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $297.58.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $258.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.70. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.15%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MacBook Neo demand and Bank of America bullish thesis — BofA keeps a Buy rating and $320 price target, citing the MacBook Neo’s instant sellouts as a catalyst to expand Apple’s addressable PC market and upside to revenue. Apple MacBook Neo could expand market reach, says Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: Big-investor backing and quality-story momentum — Coverage notes renewed institutional confidence (including mentions of Buffett and Ken Griffin), reinforcing Apple’s “quality tech” status and supporting investor demand in choppy markets. Here’s Why Warren Buffett and Ken Griffin Love Apple (AAPL)
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Tim Cook stock sale disclosed — Tim Cook sold roughly $16.5M of Apple shares. The filing increases headline risk and can spur short-term noise, but context (routine diversification vs. signal of concern) will shape investor reaction. Apple (AAPL) Stock Holds Strong Despite CEO’s $16.5M Share Sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal fight with Epic escalates — Apple has filed to take parts of the Epic Games App Store dispute back to the U.S. Supreme Court; continued litigation raises liability and operating-risk headlines but no immediate earnings impact. Apple plans Supreme Court appeal in Epic Games App Store battle — again
• Neutral Sentiment: App-store compliance in China — Apple removed a high-profile app (Bitchat) from the China App Store at Beijing’s request, underscoring regulatory sensitivity in a key market; this is a reputational/regulatory access risk but not an immediate revenue hit. Apple Removes Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat From China App Store
• Negative Sentiment: Foldable iPhone engineering snags — Nikkei/Reuters report testing problems that could push mass-production and shipments back by months, creating the risk of missed launch/timing-driven revenue and margin upside tied to a new product category. Apple's foldable iPhone encounters engineering snags, faces potential shipment delays, Nikkei Asia reports
• Negative Sentiment: China AI patent/regulatory setbacks — Apple temporarily pulled Apple Intelligence in China amid regulator pushback, and a China court ruling upholding key AI patents tied to a small rival raises potential infringement exposure and uncertainty for Apple’s AI rollout in its second-largest market. These items increase regulatory and legal execution risk for AI features and services in China. Apple China AI Setback Puts Regulatory Risk In Investor Focus Xiao-I (AIXI) jumps 166.9% as investors react to China top-court ruling upholding key AI patents in Apple dispute

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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