Three Magnolias Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Three Magnolias Financial Advisors increased its Apple stake by 17.7% in the first quarter, buying 2,750 more shares and bringing its total holding to 18,256 shares worth about $4.63 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted their Apple positions, and institutional investors now own 67.73% of the stock, showing continued broad interest from large holders.
• Analysts remain generally positive on Apple, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.85, even as some insiders sold shares recently.

Three Magnolias Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,256 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.9% of Three Magnolias Financial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Three Magnolias Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.3% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 164,367 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $41,715,000 after purchasing an additional 16,713 shares during the period. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.9% during the first quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 8,827 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.4% during the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 26,621 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,144 shares during the period. TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the first quarter. TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC now owns 8,479 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 910,403 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $231,051,000 after buying an additional 68,158 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, 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 transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This trade 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 available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Maxim Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 1st. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.85.

Trending Headlines about Apple

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%

Apple stock opened at $313.39 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.50 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $297.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.68. 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 data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 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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