Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its Apple stake by 5.6% in the first quarter, buying 3,757 additional shares and bringing its total to 70,587 shares worth about $17.9 million.
• Apple is drawing attention for a major Broadcom chip deal that could improve supply chain resilience, reduce reliance on overseas suppliers, and support its long-term AI and chip strategy.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, while also raising its quarterly dividend slightly to $0.27 per share.

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,587 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,757 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.1% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $17,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Broadcom agreement should improve Apple’s supply chain resiliency, reduce reliance on overseas suppliers, and strengthen its domestic manufacturing story. Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is also taking the deal as a sign that Apple is investing aggressively in its long-term chip and AI infrastructure, which could support future product launches and margin stability. Apple Announces Broadcom Chip Deal Worth More Than $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple also lost an EU court challenge to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, leaving its App Store and iOS under tougher antitrust obligations in Europe, but investors appear to be focusing more on the chip deal today. EU court rejects Apple's challenge against EU rules reining in Big Tech
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, JPMorgan said recent hardware price increases are unlikely to hurt demand, reinforcing the view that Apple’s pricing power remains intact heading into earnings later this month. Apple price hikes unlikely to hurt demand, JPMorgan says as it raises PT

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $313.39 on Thursday. 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's 50-day moving average is $297.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.68. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.50 and a 12 month high of $317.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. KGI Securities lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.85.

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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