Ruggaard & Associates LLC Makes New $7.45 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ruggaard & Associates LLC initiated a $7.45 million Apple position by purchasing 25,759 shares in the second quarter, making Apple its 13th-largest holding. Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple’s stock.
• Apple reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $109.42 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue increased 16.4% year over year.
• Wall Street’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $340.14; Apple recently traded at $338.40 and maintains a $0.27 quarterly dividend.

Ruggaard & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 25,759 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $7,454,000. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Ruggaard & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospect Hill Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $146,370,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,646,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $482,388,000. Satovsky Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $16,064,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,513,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.06, for a total value of $815,803.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 44,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,095,603.46. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,031 shares of company stock valued at $3,535,759. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Phillip Securities raised their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. KGI Securities downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.14.

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $338.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm's fifty day moving average is $321.79 and its 200-day moving average is $298.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.42 and a 52 week high of $345.34. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s renewed patent agreement with Qualcomm helps preserve access to important cellular technology and reduces uncertainty surrounding future iPhone launches. The deal also supports Qualcomm’s royalty stream tied to Apple devices. What Is Going on With Qualcomm Stock on Monday?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is increasing orders for TSMC’s next-generation 2-nanometer chips point to continued investment in more powerful and efficient processors for future iPhones and other products. TSMC Ramps Up 2nm Chip Capacity as Apple, Nvidia Orders Jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo and premium-device strategy could lift revenue and expand its addressable market, but the roughly $2,000 price raises questions about demand beyond affluent early adopters. Apple’s Premium iPhone Strategy Faces a Test Beyond Early Adopters
• Neutral Sentiment: X Corp. and SpaceXAI reportedly moved to dismiss antitrust claims against Apple and OpenAI, removing one legal challenge, although other regulatory matters remain unresolved. Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI Drop Apple From AI Antitrust Fight
• Negative Sentiment: A U.S. jury ordered Apple to pay approximately $5.7 billion to Taction Technology for infringing patents covering haptic feedback used in products such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal, but the potential liability is the largest U.S. patent award of its kind. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal revived part of a consumer case alleging that Apple and Amazon restricted competition for Apple products sold through Amazon’s U.K. marketplace. Apple also faces an expanded Indian investigation into alleged costly repairs following an iOS 18 software update, increasing potential legal and reputational risk. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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