Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Trimmed by Atlas Brown Inc.

Key Points

• Atlas Brown Inc. trimmed its Apple stake by 5.8% in the first quarter, though Apple still ranked as its second-largest holding and represented about 5.2% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both topping analyst estimates and rising 16.6% from a year ago.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on AAPL, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $314.85, while Apple also recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Atlas Brown Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,986 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,179 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.2% of Atlas Brown Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Atlas Brown Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $17,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Apple by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.85.

Apple Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $284.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.26 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $273.20.

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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and traders see the recent decline as overdone, arguing that Apple’s pullback has created an attractive entry point and that the stock is oversold at support. Stock Of The Day: Is The Apple Sell-Off Over?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on AAPL, saying Apple’s pricing and margin-defense strategy supports upside and leaving its $360 target unchanged. Apple Buy Rating Reiterated as Margin Defense Strategy Supports Upside; $360 Price Target Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided on the broader implications of Apple’s recent price hikes, with some analysts saying the company can pass through costs thanks to its loyal customer base, while others warn the iPhone will be the real test. Apple Can Get Away With Mac Price Hikes, but iPhone Is the Real Test
• Negative Sentiment: Apple raised prices on several Mac and iPad models because surging memory and storage chip costs tied to AI demand are squeezing margins, raising concerns that higher prices could hurt demand and signal more pressure ahead. Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also lost a key Vision Pro hardware executive to OpenAI, adding to investor concern about execution in its spatial-computing and AI efforts. Apple (AAPL) Loses Key Vision Pro Hardware Chief to OpenAI in Major Talent Blow

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.