Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. increased its Apple stake by 1.7% in the first quarter, ending with 139,489 shares valued at about $35.4 million. Apple is now its 7th-largest holding and makes up roughly 5.1% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally constructive: Apple has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a $314.85 average target price. Recent notes included Morgan Stanley reaffirming an overweight rating, while Barclays kept an underweight view.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share. However, the company faces some concerns, including rising memory and storage costs that are pushing up Mac and iPad prices.

Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.1% of Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $35,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,178,000. Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $105,482,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 94,277 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,630,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's 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 owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and traders see the recent decline as overdone, arguing that Apple’s pullback has created an attractive entry point and that the stock is oversold at support. Stock Of The Day: Is The Apple Sell-Off Over?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on AAPL, saying Apple’s pricing and margin-defense strategy supports upside and leaving its $360 target unchanged. Apple Buy Rating Reiterated as Margin Defense Strategy Supports Upside; $360 Price Target Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided on the broader implications of Apple’s recent price hikes, with some analysts saying the company can pass through costs thanks to its loyal customer base, while others warn the iPhone will be the real test. Apple Can Get Away With Mac Price Hikes, but iPhone Is the Real Test
• Negative Sentiment: Apple raised prices on several Mac and iPad models because surging memory and storage chip costs tied to AI demand are squeezing margins, raising concerns that higher prices could hurt demand and signal more pressure ahead. Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also lost a key Vision Pro hardware executive to OpenAI, adding to investor concern about execution in its spatial-computing and AI efforts. Apple (AAPL) Loses Key Vision Pro Hardware Chief to OpenAI in Major Talent Blow

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $284.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.26 and a 52-week high of $317.40. The company's 50 day moving average price is $292.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $273.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

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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