Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Silphium Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Silphium Asset Management cut its Apple stake by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,480 shares and leaving it with 23,820 shares worth about $6.48 million.
• Apple shares were up 0.7% to $300.23, near their 52-week high, as the stock continues to trade well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Apple recently beat quarterly earnings expectations with $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, and it also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.27 per share.

Silphium Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,820 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 12,480 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Silphium Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Silphium Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $6,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $300.23 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $303.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.48. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business posted $1.65 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic's Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple's Desktop Operating System

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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