CFM Wealth Partners LLC Trims Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• CFM Wealth Partners cut its Apple stake by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,133 shares and leaving it with 277,886 shares worth about $75.5 million. Apple remains the fund’s second-largest holding, making up roughly 10.9% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment on Apple is still broadly positive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $308.74. Recent firms including Citi, JPMorgan, Bernstein, and Stifel have reiterated or raised targets.
• Apple’s latest fundamentals remain strong: it reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, raised its dividend, and authorized a new $100 billion share buyback. The stock has also been trading near its 52-week high after the post-earnings rally.

CFM Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277,886 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,133 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 10.9% of CFM Wealth Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. CFM Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $75,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

Key Apple News

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

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $300.23 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $265.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.47. The stock 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $303.20.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% 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 have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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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