Ebert Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ebert Capital Management opened a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 7,148 shares worth about $1.855 million. Apple now makes up roughly 1.8% of the firm’s holdings and is its 13th-largest position.
• Apple continues to draw strong institutional and analyst support, with hedge funds and other investors still owning 67.73% of the stock. Several analysts recently raised or reiterated bullish ratings, and Apple’s consensus view remains a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $312.82.
• The company’s fundamentals and near-term outlook remain strong, highlighted by a better-than-expected earnings report, a higher quarterly dividend, and investor optimism ahead of WWDC for major AI and Siri updates. At the same time, some concerns remain around valuation and regulatory risk, including an antitrust case in India.

Ebert Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,148 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,855,000. Apple comprises approximately 1.8% of Ebert Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st 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 acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts reiterated bullish views on Apple ahead of WWDC, including Goldman Sachs keeping a Buy rating with a $340 target and Evercore ISI lifting its target to $365, citing Apple’s AI roadmap, ecosystem strength, and services growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor expectations remain high that Apple will unveil major AI updates at WWDC, especially a rebuilt Siri and deeper Apple Intelligence features, which could extend the stock’s recent rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports suggest Apple may expand its ecosystem with a native bill-splitting/payment feature in iOS, which could deepen user engagement and strengthen its services revenue stream. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Apple’s stock has been upbeat, with articles highlighting outperformance versus the S&P 500 and strong demand for iPhones and Macs ahead of the conference. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS said not to expect fireworks from WWDC and kept a Neutral rating, suggesting the event may not deliver a near-term stock catalyst if announcements disappoint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s recent gains and all-time high have also prompted valuation concerns, with some analysts and commentators warning the shares may already price in a lot of good news. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple agreed to submit India business financials in an antitrust case, keeping regulatory risk in focus and raising the possibility of penalties. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive headlines from Nvidia, Walmart, and others show mounting pressure on parts of Apple’s ecosystem, including PCs and payments, which could weigh on sentiment if rivals gain traction. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.82.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $310.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $279.10 and a 200-day moving average of $270.84. 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 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $316.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 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 paid 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 yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value 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 trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.