Northwest Financial Advisors Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Northwest Financial Advisors cut its Apple stake by 85.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 14,595 shares and leaving it with 2,564 shares worth about $697,000.
• Apple’s stock continues to draw mixed analyst views, but the consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $305.74. Several firms recently raised targets, including UBS at $296 and Jefferies at $330.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 beating estimates and revenue of $111.18 billion topping expectations. Apple also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share and its stock has been trading near its 52-week high.

Northwest Financial Advisors decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 85.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,564 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,595 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.4% of Northwest Financial Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Northwest Financial Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $296.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $293.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $294.76.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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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