Smith Salley Wealth Management Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its Apple stake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 413,982 shares valued at about $112.5 million. Apple is now its third-largest holding and makes up 5.6% of the portfolio.
• Several major institutional investors also raised their Apple positions, and institutions now own 67.73% of the company’s shares. This underscores continued broad support from large funds despite recent insider selling.
• Apple recently reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $2.01 EPS and $111.18 billion in revenue, while also increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.27 and authorizing a fresh $100 billion buyback.

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 413,982 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,771 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.6% of Smith Salley Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $112,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Maxim Group raised shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target 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 company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic's Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple's Desktop Operating System

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $300.23 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $303.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50 day moving average is $265.37 and its 200-day moving average is $267.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

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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