Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Fortitude Financial LLC

Key Points

• Fortitude Financial LLC cut its Apple stake by 94.3% in Q4, selling 23,947 shares and leaving it with 1,445 shares valued at about $393,000.
• Apple’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, while the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share and approved a $100 billion buyback.
• Despite some recent insider selling and mixed institutional moves, Wall Street remains broadly positive on Apple, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Fortitude Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 94.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,445 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 23,947 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.3% of Fortitude Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Fortitude Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 on 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 $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $308.74.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

AAPL opened at $298.21 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $300.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $264.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.25.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. 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. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter was a clear beat, with revenue of $111.18 billion and EPS of $2.01 topping expectations, while management also approved a fresh $100 billion buyback and raised the dividend.
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target on Apple to $365 from $330 and reiterated an Outperform rating, citing strong Services growth and long-term earnings/free-cash-flow compounding.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm remains elevated around Apple’s AI roadmap, with reports pointing to WWDC as a potential catalyst and broader expectations that Apple can monetize AI through devices and Services.
• Positive Sentiment: China-related headlines may also help sentiment, as Xi Jinping told U.S. CEOs including Tim Cook that China will “open wider,” easing some concerns about Apple’s supply chain and market access.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly exploring new AI-agent support in the App Store and additional iOS features, which could support the ecosystem but are still early-stage product rumors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Security reports about vulnerabilities found in macOS/iOS are a reminder of cyber risks, but they do not yet appear to be a material earnings issue.
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI is reportedly considering legal action against Apple over their ChatGPT partnership, raising the risk of a public dispute around Apple’s AI strategy.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling and a reported Foxconn ransomware incident may slightly temper sentiment, though neither looks large enough to outweigh the bullish earnings and analyst upgrades.

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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