Seven Grand Managers LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Seven Grand Managers LLC reduced its Apple stake by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 38,000 shares and leaving it with 87,000 shares worth about $23.7 million.
• Apple shares were down 3.6% amid concerns over its AI push, including a Siri overhaul that appears to lag competitors and may roll out more slowly than investors expected.
• Despite the headline pressure, Apple recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, and the company also raised its dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26.

Seven Grand Managers LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 30.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,000 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 38,000 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.8% of Seven Grand Managers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Seven Grand Managers LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $23,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Overbrook Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after acquiring an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Finally, Montis Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $19,841,000 after acquiring an additional 10,640 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple's AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

Apple Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $283.19 and its 200 day moving average is $271.79. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.07 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.59.

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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