Hoertkorn Richard Charles Trims Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Hoertkorn Richard Charles trimmed its Apple stake by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,387 shares and ending with 90,269 shares worth about $24.5 million. Apple remains the fund’s largest holding at roughly 9.5% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of estimates. The company also raised its dividend and authorized a fresh $100 billion share buyback, reinforcing bullish sentiment.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on AAPL, with several firms lifting price targets and the consensus view sitting at “Moderate Buy” with a $308.74 target. However, insider selling has continued, including transactions by CEO Tim Cook and Ben Borders.

Hoertkorn Richard Charles cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,269 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,387 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 9.5% of Hoertkorn Richard Charles' investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Hoertkorn Richard Charles' holdings in Apple were worth $24,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $335.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $300.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.48. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $303.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06.

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, beating 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 analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Apple'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 year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost 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%.

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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