Berkeley Inc Buys 5,144 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Berkeley Inc sharply increased its Apple position by 196.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,144 additional shares to bring its total holding to 7,761 shares valued at about $2.11 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets and Apple’s consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $305.74. Wedbush also highlighted AI as a possible major growth driver for the stock.
• Apple continues to show strong fundamentals, recently beating earnings and revenue estimates while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share. The company’s market cap is about $4.31 trillion, and the stock is trading near its 52-week high.

Berkeley Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 196.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,761 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,144 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $293.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.46 and a twelve month high of $294.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50 day moving average is $261.85 and its 200 day moving average is $266.04.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.58%.

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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