Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Apple stake by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 10.8 million shares but still holding 17.36 million shares worth about $4.7 billion.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of Wall Street estimates. Revenue rose 16.6% from a year earlier.
• The company also raised its dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, while analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $314.59.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 38.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,359,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,800,944 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.8% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.12% of Apple worth $4,719,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $291.13 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $285.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.27. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.07 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.59.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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