Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Increased by 17 Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• 17 Capital Partners LLC increased its Apple stake by 24% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,037 more shares and bringing its total to 10,511 shares worth about $2.86 million.
• Apple’s most recent quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, while revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• Despite solid fundamentals and a raised quarterly dividend, investor attention remains split over Apple’s AI roadmap, with analysts generally rating the stock Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $314.59.

17 Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,511 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.5% of 17 Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. 17 Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What's the Path Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here's Why It's Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple's AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.

Apple Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business's 50 day moving average is $285.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

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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