Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by Wick Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• Wick Capital Partners LLC increased its Apple stake by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,939 more shares and bringing its total to 21,843 shares worth about $5.94 million.
• Wall Street remains generally positive on Apple, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $314.59, while several analysts recently reiterated or raised targets in the $270-$310 range.
• Apple’s latest quarter beat expectations, reporting $2.01 EPS and $111.18 billion in revenue, and the company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Wick Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,843 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.1% of Wick Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Wick Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $298.01 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $289.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.91. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.85 and a 52-week high of $317.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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