Emissary Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 16,710 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Emissary Wealth LLC opened a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 16,710 shares valued at about $4.54 million. Apple now represents 3.8% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 8th-largest holding.
• Apple continues to attract major institutional interest, with several large funds increasing or initiating positions, and institutional investors now own 67.73% of the company. At the same time, insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh.
• Apple beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share. Analysts remain broadly constructive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $308.74.

Emissary Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,710 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,543,000. Apple accounts for 3.8% of Emissary Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 20,464.8% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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 dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $300.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $303.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company's fifty day moving average price is $265.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.48.

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. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

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 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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