Oxbow Advisors LLC Sells 1,643 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Oxbow Advisors LLC reduced its Apple stake by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,643 shares and leaving it with 127,851 shares valued at about $34.8 million.
• Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.01 on $111.18 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $312.82.

Oxbow Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,851 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,643 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.0% of Oxbow Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Oxbow Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $34,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents 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. Insiders have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $310.26 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $279.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $316.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $312.82.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts reiterated bullish views on Apple ahead of WWDC, including Goldman Sachs keeping a Buy rating with a $340 target and Evercore ISI lifting its target to $365, citing Apple’s AI roadmap, ecosystem strength, and services growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor expectations remain high that Apple will unveil major AI updates at WWDC, especially a rebuilt Siri and deeper Apple Intelligence features, which could extend the stock’s recent rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports suggest Apple may expand its ecosystem with a native bill-splitting/payment feature in iOS, which could deepen user engagement and strengthen its services revenue stream. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Apple’s stock has been upbeat, with articles highlighting outperformance versus the S&P 500 and strong demand for iPhones and Macs ahead of the conference. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS said not to expect fireworks from WWDC and kept a Neutral rating, suggesting the event may not deliver a near-term stock catalyst if announcements disappoint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s recent gains and all-time high have also prompted valuation concerns, with some analysts and commentators warning the shares may already price in a lot of good news. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple agreed to submit India business financials in an antitrust case, keeping regulatory risk in focus and raising the possibility of penalties. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive headlines from Nvidia, Walmart, and others show mounting pressure on parts of Apple’s ecosystem, including PCs and payments, which could weigh on sentiment if rivals gain traction. Article Title

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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