Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC Buys 2,275 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC increased its Apple stake by 7.8% in Q1, buying 2,275 more shares and bringing its total to 31,574 shares worth about $8.0 million. Apple is now its largest portfolio holding at roughly 4.4% of assets.
• Apple insiders have been selling shares recently, including CFO Kevan Parekh and SVP Deirdre O'Brien, with $25.0 million in insider stock sales over the last 90 days. Insiders still own only 0.06% of the company.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both above analyst estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share. Analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $314.85.

Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,574 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.4% of Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Ballast Rock Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $8,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.85.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $275.15 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.26 and a 12 month high of $317.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $292.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.12.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say the price hikes could help Apple protect margins by passing through rising component costs, and long-term bulls still view the company as financially strong. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s AI strategy remains a work in progress, with some coverage saying the company’s AI upgrade likely will not be a major near-term catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s decision to raise Mac and iPad prices has sparked concern about weaker demand and “demand friction,” especially if consumers push back on higher-priced devices. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market weakness and a tech selloff added pressure, with Apple leading the downside among major technology names. Article Title

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

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.