Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC trimmed its Apple stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, but Apple still remained its third-largest holding at 3.9% of assets, worth about $39.2 million.
• Apple’s latest earnings beat estimates, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, while the company also raised its dividend and approved a $100 billion buyback.
• Despite a small stock dip, Apple remains heavily owned by institutions and has drawn broadly bullish Wall Street sentiment, with multiple analysts lifting price targets and an average target of $308.74.

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,022 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,293 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.9% of Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $39,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $298.21 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.46 and a 52 week high of $300.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $264.61 and a 200-day moving average of $267.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Apple

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $308.74.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.