Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Decreased by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. cut its Apple stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, but Apple remains its largest holding at about 5% of the portfolio, valued at roughly $23.8 million.
• Apple posted a strong quarterly beat, with revenue of $111.18 billion and EPS of $2.01 topping estimates, and management also authorized a new $100 billion buyback while raising the dividend.
• Sentiment on Wall Street remains constructive: several analysts raised price targets, and the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target of $308.74.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,665 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,469 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.0% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $23,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Apple stock 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 company has a market cap 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 current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $264.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm 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 firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Apple Company 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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