Employees Provident Fund Board Buys New Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Employees Provident Fund Board opened a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 1,324,583 shares worth about $360.1 million. Apple now makes up roughly 2.6% of the fund’s portfolio and is its 10th-largest holding.
• Other institutional investors also added to Apple, and hedge funds and institutions now own about 67.73% of the company’s stock. The article highlights continued broad institutional interest in AAPL.
• Apple remains supported by strong fundamentals and analyst optimism, including a recent earnings beat, a dividend increase to $0.27 per share, and multiple buy ratings with a consensus price target of about $314.59.

Employees Provident Fund Board purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,324,583 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $360,101,000. Apple comprises about 2.6% of Employees Provident Fund Board's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Basso Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $298.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $289.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.91. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.85 and a 52 week high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.

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