CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Acquires 5,114 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its Apple stake by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,114 shares and bringing its total holding to 65,003 shares valued at about $17.7 million.
• Apple’s latest headlines were mixed to negative, with investors and analysts concerned that its Siri AI overhaul is lagging rivals, may depend partly on Google/Nvidia infrastructure, and could be limited by older iPhones.
• The company remains financially strong, with recent quarterly earnings and revenue beating expectations, a modest dividend increase to $0.27 per share, and continued bullish sentiment from Wall Street despite some cautious ratings.

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,003 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $17,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple's AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.79. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year high of $317.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, 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 quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

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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