Covenant Asset Management LLC Sells 2,705 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Covenant Asset Management LLC trimmed its Apple stake by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,705 shares and leaving it with 80,379 shares worth about $21.85 million.
• Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both above Wall Street estimates and up 16.6% from a year earlier.
• The company also raised its dividend to $0.27 per share, while analysts remain broadly constructive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.31.

Covenant Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,379 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,705 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.6% of Covenant Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Covenant Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $21,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Apple by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $312.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.76. The company has a market cap of $4.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $313.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying agentic AI could strengthen Apple’s ecosystem and create meaningful new revenue opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple is preparing a major Siri overhaul for WWDC, including a new app-like experience designed to compete more directly with ChatGPT-style assistants, which could improve sentiment around Apple’s AI roadmap.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary continue to argue that Apple’s installed base, privacy controls, payments, and device ownership give it a strong position if AI assistants become a primary interface for search, commerce, and productivity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s stock is already near record territory, so some of the optimism around AI and WWDC may already be reflected in the share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles note that Apple is still viewed by parts of the market as an AI laggard versus rivals, and that its valuation is already rich, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AAPL shares. KGI Securities raised shares of Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Maxim Group raised shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.31.

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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