Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Increased by Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX

Key Points

• Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX increased its Apple stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 1,716 shares to hold 110,719 shares valued at about $30.1 million. Apple is now the firm’s second-largest position, making up roughly 6.6% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 beating estimates and revenue of $111.18 billion topping forecasts. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year, and the company also delivered high margins and return on equity.
• Analysts remain mostly positive, with Apple carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $308.74. The stock was trading near its 52-week high at $308.82, while Apple also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,719 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,716 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.6% of Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX's holdings in Apple were worth $30,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group set a $296.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $308.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 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. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $311.40. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $269.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

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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