Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by SageGuard Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• SageGuard Financial Group LLC reduced its Apple stake by 1.6% in the first quarter, but Apple remains its largest holding at 5.6% of the portfolio, worth about $36.2 million.
• Apple reported strong fiscal Q2 results, with earnings of $2.01 per share and revenue of $111.18 billion, both beating estimates and showing 16.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $314.85.

SageGuard Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,762 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,255 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.6% of SageGuard Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. SageGuard Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $36,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 890.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,413,990,000 after acquiring an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $313.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $297.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.68. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.50 and a 12-month high of $317.40.

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 return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Maxim Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.85.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Broadcom agreement should improve Apple’s supply chain resiliency, reduce reliance on overseas suppliers, and strengthen its domestic manufacturing story. Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is also taking the deal as a sign that Apple is investing aggressively in its long-term chip and AI infrastructure, which could support future product launches and margin stability. Apple Announces Broadcom Chip Deal Worth More Than $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple also lost an EU court challenge to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, leaving its App Store and iOS under tougher antitrust obligations in Europe, but investors appear to be focusing more on the chip deal today. EU court rejects Apple's challenge against EU rules reining in Big Tech
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, JPMorgan said recent hardware price increases are unlikely to hurt demand, reinforcing the view that Apple’s pricing power remains intact heading into earnings later this month. Apple price hikes unlikely to hurt demand, JPMorgan says as it raises PT

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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