Forteris Wealth Management Inc. Takes $5.04 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Forteris Wealth Management initiated a new position in Apple, buying 18,547 shares valued at about $5.04 million. Apple now makes up roughly 5% of the firm’s portfolio and is its fourth-largest holding.
• Apple continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with 67.73% of shares owned by institutions. Several analysts also remain bullish, and Wedbush recently raised its price target to $400 on expectations that AI could drive future growth.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share. The stock recently traded near its 52-week high after the earnings beat and positive sentiment around upcoming catalysts like WWDC.

Forteris Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,547 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,042,000. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Forteris Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $305.74.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $293.25 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $294.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $261.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 12.58%.

About Apple

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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