Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 55,884 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Jones Kertz & Associates opened a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 55,884 shares worth about $15.2 million. Apple is now the firm’s second-largest holding and makes up roughly 7.8% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year, and analysts expect continued strong profitability.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, while analysts remain broadly constructive. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $308.74.

Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 55,884 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $15,193,000. Apple makes up about 7.8% of Jones Kertz & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Overbrook Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 48.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $363,256,000 after purchasing an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,915,172,000 after purchasing an additional 214,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montis Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.8% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $19,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,640 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $300.23 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. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $303.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $265.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a P/E 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $296.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Corporate 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 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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.