Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC initiated a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 2,666 shares valued at about $725,000. Apple now makes up roughly 0.7% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Apple recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $2.01 per share on revenue of $111.18 billion, and revenue rose 16.6% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock, with Apple carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $310.31. Institutional ownership is also high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding about 67.73% of the shares.

Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,666 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $725,000. Apple comprises approximately 0.7% of Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group set a $296.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $310.31.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $315.20 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year high of $315.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.28. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of WWDC, with Apple expected to unveil key AI features that could improve Siri and strengthen its software ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s MacBook Neo is reportedly gaining traction with new buyers, suggesting the company is still expanding its hardware appeal beyond its core customer base. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been lifting targets on AAPL ahead of WWDC, reflecting confidence that Apple’s AI strategy and software roadmap could reaccelerate growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: New Apple Wallet bill-splitting and payment-request features may help deepen engagement, but the immediate stock impact is less clear because the move is incremental rather than transformative. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is being discussed as a potentially overvalued stock after its recent rally, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints expectations. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Dell and Nvidia have intensified competition in PCs and laptops, pressuring Apple’s positioning in hardware categories like the MacBook Neo. Article Title

Insider Activity at Apple

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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last ninety days. 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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