Simmons Bank Purchases 2,205 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Simmons Bank increased its Apple stake by 1.7% in the first quarter, buying 2,205 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 130,494 shares worth about $33.1 million.
• Apple continues to attract broad institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 67.73% of the company’s shares, even as some insiders have recently sold stock.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on Apple: analysts give it a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $314.85, while the stock also recently reported strong earnings and raised its quarterly dividend.

Simmons Bank increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,205 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.2% of Simmons Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Simmons Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $33,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its holdings in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 1st. KGI Securities lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.85.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The Broadcom agreement should improve Apple’s supply chain resiliency, reduce reliance on overseas suppliers, and strengthen its domestic manufacturing story. Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is also taking the deal as a sign that Apple is investing aggressively in its long-term chip and AI infrastructure, which could support future product launches and margin stability. Apple Announces Broadcom Chip Deal Worth More Than $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple also lost an EU court challenge to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, leaving its App Store and iOS under tougher antitrust obligations in Europe, but investors appear to be focusing more on the chip deal today. EU court rejects Apple's challenge against EU rules reining in Big Tech
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, JPMorgan said recent hardware price increases are unlikely to hurt demand, reinforcing the view that Apple’s pricing power remains intact heading into earnings later this month. Apple price hikes unlikely to hurt demand, JPMorgan says as it raises PT

Apple Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $313.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.50 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $297.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

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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