Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lessened by AMI Asset Management Corp

Key Points

• AMI Asset Management trimmed its Apple stake by 2.9% in Q1, selling 13,405 shares and leaving it with 452,765 shares worth about $114.9 million. Apple remains the fund’s largest holding, making up 7.3% of its portfolio.
• Apple continues to draw strong institutional support overall, with hedge funds and asset managers owning 67.73% of the stock. Major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and Geode all increased their positions in the latest filings.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: analysts currently rate Apple as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $314.85, while the company also topped its latest earnings estimates and raised its quarterly dividend.

AMI Asset Management Corp lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 452,765 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 13,405 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.3% of AMI Asset Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $114,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Maxim Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 26th. KGI Securities downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.85.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple announced a multiyear partnership with Broadcom worth more than $30 billion to design and produce U.S.-made custom silicon and wireless chips, its largest domestic manufacturing commitment to date. The deal improves supply-chain resiliency and supports future product cycles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan said Apple’s recent price increases for Mac and iPad, and any possible iPhone hikes, are unlikely to significantly hurt demand, and it raised its price target while reiterating a Buy rating. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: UBS said App Store data points to roughly 3% growth in Apple’s June quarter, signaling that services revenue remains resilient even as U.S. revenue softens somewhat. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces framed Apple as a potential leader in a broader “Magnificent Seven” rebound, but these were mostly market commentary rather than company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: An EU court rejected Apple’s challenge to Digital Markets Act gatekeeper rules, leaving the company exposed to tighter App Store and iOS antitrust obligations in Europe. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Hedgeye reportedly added Apple as a new short idea, which may be adding some caution around the stock’s near-term valuation after a strong run. Article Title

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $316.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.23, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $274.97. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.50 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 announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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