Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Increased by Stevens Capital Partners

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Partners increased its Apple stake by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,528 shares and bringing its total to 17,979 shares worth about $4.89 million.
• Insiders sold shares, including SVP Deirdre O'Brien and CEO Tim Cook, in pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transactions; insider ownership remains very small at 0.06%.
• Wall Street sentiment on Apple is broadly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $308.74, while the company also recently beat earnings estimates and raised its dividend.

Stevens Capital Partners increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,979 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.3% of Stevens Capital Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Stevens Capital Partners' holdings in Apple were worth $4,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic's Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple's Desktop Operating System

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $300.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50-day moving average is $265.37 and its 200-day moving average is $267.47. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $303.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for 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%.The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

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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