Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Ferguson Shapiro LLC

Key Points

• Ferguson Shapiro LLC boosted its Apple stake by 22.5% in the first quarter, buying 4,586 more shares and bringing its total to 24,931 shares worth about $6.33 million.
• Apple remains heavily owned by institutions and hedge funds, with 67.73% of the stock held by those investors, and several other firms also recently added new positions.
• The article also highlights Apple’s broader backdrop: it has beat earnings expectations, recently raised its dividend, and continues to draw analyst attention with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $314.85.

Ferguson Shapiro LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,931 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,586 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of Ferguson Shapiro LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Ferguson Shapiro LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new lawsuit against OpenAI could help protect its hardware roadmap and reinforce its control over proprietary technology, which may support its long-term competitive position. Reuters: Apple sues OpenAI, two former employees for trade secrets theft
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines around Apple’s expanded multi-year chip deal with Broadcom continue to boost sentiment, since the agreement strengthens Apple’s supply chain, supports U.S. manufacturing, and deepens its custom silicon strategy. Yahoo Finance: Apple Secures Largest Ever US Chip Deal With Broadcom For $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple was also named among approved U.S. companies eligible for license-free exports under eased UAE trade rules, which is supportive for international operations but not clearly a near-term stock catalyst. Quiver Quant: U.S. eases export controls on UAE
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change, suggesting today’s move is being driven more by news flow than by a shift in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: The OpenAI lawsuit also highlights that Apple’s relationship with a major AI player has soured, adding uncertainty around future AI partnerships and potentially distracting management with litigation. Financial Times: Apple sues OpenAI, alleging it stole top-secret information

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.85.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $315.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $299.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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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