Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Lifted by Next Century Growth Investors LLC

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC increased its Apple stake by 10.9% in Q4, buying 7,824 more shares and lifting its holding to 79,402 shares worth about $21.6 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with Apple carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $314.59. Several analysts recently reiterated bullish ratings, though some remain neutral or hold.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.27 from $0.26. The stock was trading up 1.8% at $296.42, near its 52-week high.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,402 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 7,824 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.5% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $21,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Apple’s WWDC AI rollout could be the “first step” toward adding as much as $100 to the stock, as investors focus on the company’s AI execution and the potential for a stronger Siri/Apple Intelligence roadmap. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence suggest Apple is making progress on features that could improve older iPhones, expand software value, and strengthen the case for users to upgrade into the next product cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms reiterating buy/overweight views and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing a bullish long-term sentiment on AAPL. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight Apple’s strong recent operating performance, including record iPhone demand and services revenue, but these are largely a rehash of prior earnings strength rather than a fresh catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance report says rising memory chip costs could pressure Apple’s hardware margins as AI features require more device memory, creating a potential headwind for profitability over the next few quarters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sentiment is also being dampened by articles noting that the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, have been weak in June and have lagged the broader market at times, which can weigh on near-term momentum. Article Title

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

Apple stock opened at $296.42 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $286.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.38. 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 $195.07 and a 12 month high of $317.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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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