GPM Growth Investors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• GPM Growth Investors Inc. trimmed its Apple stake by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,230 shares and leaving it with 47,767 shares worth about $12.99 million.
• Apple continues to get bullish analyst support, with Bank of America lifting its price target to $380 and maintaining a Buy rating, while the broader consensus remains Moderate Buy.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and its stock recently traded near a 52-week high of $313.26 after opening at $312.51.

GPM Growth Investors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,767 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,230 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.1% of GPM Growth Investors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. GPM Growth Investors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $12,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 40,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying agentic AI could strengthen Apple’s ecosystem and create meaningful new revenue opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple is preparing a major Siri overhaul for WWDC, including a new app-like experience designed to compete more directly with ChatGPT-style assistants, which could improve sentiment around Apple’s AI roadmap.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary continue to argue that Apple’s installed base, privacy controls, payments, and device ownership give it a strong position if AI assistants become a primary interface for search, commerce, and productivity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s stock is already near record territory, so some of the optimism around AI and WWDC may already be reflected in the share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles note that Apple is still viewed by parts of the market as an AI laggard versus rivals, and that its valuation is already rich, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised 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. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.31.

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $312.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $313.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's fifty day moving average is $274.19 and its 200 day moving average is $269.76.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for 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%.Apple's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. 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 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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