Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Evernest Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Evernest Financial Advisors boosted its Apple stake by 254.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 135,023 shares worth about $37.1 million. Apple became the firm’s largest holding at roughly 7.9% of its portfolio.
• Apple’s shares were trading up 1.8% at $296.42, with the company carrying a $4.35 trillion market cap. The stock has ranged from $195.07 to $317.40 over the past year.
• Recent fundamentals and sentiment remain supportive: Apple beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, raised its dividend to $0.27 per share, and Wall Street analysts still have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $314.59.

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 254.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,023 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 96,938 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 7.9% of Evernest Financial Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $37,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Overbrook Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Tufton Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% in the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,482,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after purchasing an additional 214,215 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $296.42 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $286.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.38. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year high of $317.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Apple’s WWDC AI rollout could be the “first step” toward adding as much as $100 to the stock, as investors focus on the company’s AI execution and the potential for a stronger Siri/Apple Intelligence roadmap. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence suggest Apple is making progress on features that could improve older iPhones, expand software value, and strengthen the case for users to upgrade into the next product cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms reiterating buy/overweight views and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing a bullish long-term sentiment on AAPL. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight Apple’s strong recent operating performance, including record iPhone demand and services revenue, but these are largely a rehash of prior earnings strength rather than a fresh catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance report says rising memory chip costs could pressure Apple’s hardware margins as AI features require more device memory, creating a potential headwind for profitability over the next few quarters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sentiment is also being dampened by articles noting that the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, have been weak in June and have lagged the broader market at times, which can weigh on near-term momentum. Article Title

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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