Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its Apple stake by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, adding 58,083 shares to bring its total to 311,859 shares worth about $84.8 million. Apple is now the firm’s largest holding, making up roughly 4.1% of its portfolio.
• Apple shares were trading near their 52-week high at $298.97, with the company carrying a market cap of $4.39 trillion. The stock also posted strong recent earnings, beating estimates with $2.01 EPS and $111.18 billion in quarterly revenue.
• Apple increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, while analysts remain broadly constructive on the stock. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $308.74.

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,859 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 58,083 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.1% of Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $84,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Avant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $298.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 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 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $303.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during 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%.The firm's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is rolling out new Apple Intelligence features, including AI-powered accessibility tools and planned iOS 27 upgrades such as smarter writing help, Shortcuts improvements, and wallpaper features, reinforcing the view that AI can drive the next phase of growth. Apple announces Apple Intelligence powered accessibility feature updates
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple recent articles highlight Apple’s Services business as a major profit engine, suggesting investors are starting to value Apple less as just an iPhone maker and more as a higher-margin platform company. AAPL: Forget the iPhone—Services Will Drive the Next Phase of Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Apple remains near record levels, with commentary pointing to strong iPhone and Services performance and analyst targets well above current trading ranges, which supports the bullish valuation narrative. Apple Trades Close to 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors continue to add Apple exposure, including a new near-$1 billion stake from Viking Global, signaling ongoing big-money confidence in AAPL. Viking Global Opens Fresh Apple Stake Worth Nearly $1 Billion As Big Tech Trade Roars Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s return of Fortnite to the App Store removes one high-profile friction point, but it also keeps attention on Apple’s App Store control and ongoing platform disputes. Fortnite Returns to the App Store Amid Clashes With Apple
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ordered Apple to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding to regulatory risk around Apple’s platform practices and potential penalties. Indian court tells Apple to 'cooperate' in antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Samsung and Google unveiled AI smart glasses to challenge Meta and Apple, underscoring intensifying competition in next-generation consumer AI hardware. Samsung and Google Announce AI Smart Glasses to Challenge Meta and Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple’s global Formula 1 streaming ambitions may take time to expand beyond the U.S. because of differing international media-rights cycles, limiting the near-term boost from that deal. After U.S. deal, Apple's global F1 push may take time

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $253.00 target price (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. KGI Securities raised Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business'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 approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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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