Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Axxcess Wealth Management cut its Apple stake by 95.1% in Q1, selling more than 10.6 million shares and leaving the firm with 552,896 shares worth about $136.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive on Apple, with analysts giving it a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $325.71 despite some mixed ratings.
• Apple’s latest results were solid: it beat earnings and revenue estimates, and the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26.

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 95.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 552,896 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,647,837 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.4% of Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $136,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first 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 period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.71.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL opened at $327.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $201.50 and a one year high of $334.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $304.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.89. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly launching a new device leasing program with Klarna, a major change to how it sells hardware that could support upgrade demand and recurring device sales. Reuters: Apple to launch 'Upgrade' device leasing program to spur sales, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple, saying it is entering a powerful new upgrade cycle supported by AI and a strong hardware roadmap. Barchart: HSBC Says Apple Is Entering a Powerful New Upgrade Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators highlighted Apple’s pricing power, strong installed base, and relative insulation from the AI capex arms race as reasons investors are favoring AAPL over some other mega-cap tech names. MarketBeat: Apple Stock Sends Major Warning Signal as Momentum Hits Peak

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.

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