Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by Davidson Trust Co.

Key Points

• Davidson Trust Co. boosted its Apple stake by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 58,329 shares valued at about $15.9 million. Apple is now its second-largest position and makes up roughly 6.6% of the portfolio.
• Apple reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both topping analyst estimates. Revenue was up 16.6% year over year, and the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.
• Analysts remain generally positive on AAPL, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $308.74. Recent firm calls include Evercore’s $365 target and UBS’s $296 neutral target, while insider selling by CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh has continued.

Davidson Trust Co. increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,329 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.6% of Davidson Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Davidson Trust Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $15,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Overbrook Management Corp increased its stake in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Apple by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $363,256,000 after purchasing an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Montis Financial LLC increased its stake in Apple by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $19,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,640 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,915,172,000 after purchasing an additional 214,215 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Phillip Securities raised Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. UBS Group set a $296.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Corporate 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: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic's Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple's Desktop Operating System

Apple Stock Up 0.7%

Apple stock opened at $300.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $303.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $265.37 and a 200 day moving average of $267.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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