Blue Jean Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 6,268 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Blue Jean Financial LLC opened a new position in Apple, buying 6,268 shares valued at about $1.7 million. Apple now represents 1.4% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 26th-largest holding.
• Apple continues to draw broad institutional support, with hedge funds and other investors owning about 67.73% of the stock. Several firms recently increased their stakes, though insider selling was also notable in recent months.
• Despite mixed sentiment around Apple’s AI rollout, the company reported strong results with quarterly EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of expectations. Analysts remain generally bullish, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.59.

Blue Jean Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,268 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000. Apple comprises 1.4% of Blue Jean Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,902,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. 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 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Apple Company 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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