Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Groupama Asset Managment

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Managment trimmed its Apple stake by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 17,862 shares but still holding 1,261,671 shares valued at about $342.9 million. Apple remains one of the fund’s top holdings at 5.0% of portfolio assets.
• Apple’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.01 on revenue of $111.18 billion, and revenue rose 16.6% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26.
• Wall Street remains broadly constructive on Apple, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $314.59. Recent headlines highlight pricing power, possible AI-focused products, and some risk that higher prices could weigh on demand.

Groupama Asset Managment cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,261,671 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 17,862 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.0% of Groupama Asset Managment's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Apple were worth $342,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 21,186 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,760,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. BDFS Capital LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $2,967,000. Tempo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $17,317,000. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 2,764 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thryve Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,475,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target 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. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $289.73 and a 200-day moving average of $272.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.85 and a 52-week high of $317.40. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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