HighTower Advisors LLC Has $2.99 Billion Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reported holding 11,007,492 Apple shares worth about $2.99 billion at quarter-end, making Apple its largest position and about 3.3% of its portfolio.
• Apple’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.01 on $111.18 billion in revenue, and revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $312.82, while analysts are watching Apple’s AI and WWDC updates as potential catalysts.

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,007,492 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,716 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.3% of HighTower Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Apple worth $2,992,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.82.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $307.34 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $281.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.37. 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 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $316.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC keynote is expected to highlight a revamped Siri, Apple Intelligence updates, and a broader AI strategy, which could act as a near-term catalyst if the company shows meaningful progress. Will WWDC Drive Apple Stock (AAPL) Higher? Here’s What Analysts Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive, with Citi reiterating a Buy and Wedbush reaffirming Outperform with a $400 target, citing Apple’s AI inflection point and resilient iPhone fundamentals. Asiya Merchant Reiterates Buy on Apple, Citing AI Strategy Inflection and Resilient iPhone Fundamentals
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s App Store update showed $1.4 trillion in sales and billings last year, reinforcing the scale of its Services ecosystem even as most transactions did not carry a commission. Apple touts $1.4 trillion in App Store billings and sales, 90% without a commission
• Positive Sentiment: Foxconn raised its second-quarter outlook, a constructive signal for Apple’s supply chain and iPhone demand, since Foxconn is Apple’s top iPhone assembler. Taiwan's Foxconn raises guidance for second-quarter outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple may rely on Google cloud infrastructure and Nvidia chips to power a redesigned Siri suggest the company is prioritizing speed to market, but they also underscore that Apple is leaning on outside partners for its AI push. Apple Taps Google to Prep Siri For September Revamp
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warns that Apple still faces a high bar to justify its valuation, and UBS noted decelerating App Store growth could pressure the Services growth story if AI execution disappoints. Investors Should Worry About Apple’s (AAPL) Decelerating App Store Growth, Says UBS

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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