DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,371 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. opened a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 3,371 shares worth about $916,000. Apple now represents 1.0% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 16th-largest holding.
• Apple continues to draw heavy interest from large institutions, with Vanguard, State Street, Geode Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Norges Bank all increasing or establishing positions. In total, 67.73% of Apple’s stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• The article also notes Apple’s recent fundamentals and outlook: the company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, raised its dividend, and has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a target price of $314.59.

DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,371 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $916,000. Apple comprises 1.0% of DiPaolo Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $164,218,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $289.73 and a 200-day moving average of $272.98. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.85 and a 52 week high of $317.40. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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