Benchmark Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 2,009 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Benchmark Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter, purchasing 2,009 shares valued at about $546,000.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.01 per share and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, and analysts remain generally bullish with a Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $308.74.

Benchmark Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,009 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during 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 increased its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% during 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 increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company'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 $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $300.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $265.37 and a 200-day moving average of $267.48. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $303.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic's Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple's Desktop Operating System

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $335.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $308.74.

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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