Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Key Points

• Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. increased its Apple stake by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 4,951 shares to bring its total to 86,231 shares worth about $23.4 million.
• Apple remains widely held by institutions, with hedge funds and other investors continuing to add shares; institutional ownership stands at 67.73% of the company.
• The stock has strong recent operating results and upbeat analyst sentiment, as Apple beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, raised its dividend slightly, and several firms lifted price targets despite some caution about valuation after the stock’s run-up.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,231 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,951 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.1% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s holdings in Apple were worth $23,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Overbrook Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings 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 worth $363,256,000 after buying an additional 465,393 shares in the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management lifted its holdings 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 worth $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montis Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.8% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $19,841,000 after buying an additional 10,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, 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 transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business'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 approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $308.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $311.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $269.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities raised Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. UBS Group set a $296.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $308.74.

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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