Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Reduced by BDF Gestion

Key Points

• BDF Gestion cut its Apple holdings by 10.6% in the second quarter, selling 30,458 shares and retaining 255,679 shares valued at approximately $74 million. Apple remains the firm’s largest position, representing 9.3% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Apple carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $330.53, despite ratings ranging from “Strong Buy” to “Underweight.”
• Apple reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $109.42 billion, exceeding estimates, while revenue grew 16.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

BDF Gestion lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,679 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 30,458 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 9.3% of BDF Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. BDF Gestion's holdings in Apple were worth $73,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 417,210 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $120,724,000 after purchasing an additional 43,839 shares during the period. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Apple by 16.5% during the second quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 50,308 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,557,000 after buying an additional 7,113 shares during the period. Calder Financial LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.0% in the second quarter. Calder Financial LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Apple by 12.4% in the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 94,270 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $27,278,000 after buying an additional 10,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $31,985,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. KGI Securities cut Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Apple from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.53.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $316.83 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average is $309.95 and its 200 day moving average is $286.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.78 and a 1 year high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and bullish outlook: Rothschild & Co. Redburn upgraded Apple from “Neutral” to “Buy” and raised its price target to $400, implying substantial upside. Morgan Stanley also identified Apple among large-cap technology stocks showing a bullish technical signal. Apple stock upgrade and price target
• Positive Sentiment: Apple positioned as an AI and volatility hedge: Analysts argue that Apple’s restrained AI infrastructure spending limits capital-expenditure and valuation risk relative to peers committing hundreds of billions of dollars to AI. Some investors also view Apple as an underappreciated AI beneficiary through its installed base and potential improvements to Siri. Apple's low AI spending
• Positive Sentiment: Macro support: Retreating Treasury yields helped restore demand for mega-cap technology stocks, while Apple showed relative strength even as semiconductor shares and parts of the technology sector weakened. Apple stock and Treasury yields
• Positive Sentiment: Product optionality: Reports that a future foldable iPhone could support an estimated 11% increase in average iPhone prices provide a potential catalyst for revenue and margin growth, although the product remains unannounced. Apple foldable iPhone outlook

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.75, for a total transaction of $442,852.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,342,929.25. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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.

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