Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 14,333 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Orange Investment Advisors reduced its Apple stake by 12.9% in the first quarter, selling 14,333 shares and leaving it with 96,843 shares worth about $24.6 million.
• Apple reported better-than-expected fiscal results, with Q2 earnings of $2.01 per share and revenue of $111.18 billion, both above analyst estimates and up 16.6% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly upbeat on Apple: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $314.85, while recent reports highlighted a higher target from J.P. Morgan and Apple’s expanded chip partnership with Broadcom through 2031.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,843 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,333 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.2% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $24,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: J.P. Morgan reportedly raised its price target on Apple, reinforcing bullish expectations heading into fiscal Q3 earnings and signaling confidence in Apple’s growth and margins. J.P. Morgan Lifts Apple Stock (AAPL) Price Target Ahead of Q3 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s extended chip partnership with Broadcom through 2031 strengthens its AI and connectivity supply chain, improving visibility for future products and supporting sentiment around Apple’s long-term execution. Broadcom, Apple extend chip partnership through 2031
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports say investors are warming to Apple’s “cheap AI” strategy, with attention shifting to Macs, Siri, and other ecosystem features rather than just the iPhone, which could create new upside drivers. Why Investors Fell Back In Love With Apple’s Cheap AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said Apple should be able to weather hardware price increases because demand remains resilient, suggesting consumers may be less price-sensitive than feared. Apple Sales Seen Weathering Hardware Price Increases

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $310.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $296.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.38. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $201.50 and a one year high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.85.

Apple Company 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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