Ticino Wealth Makes New $3.87 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ticino Wealth opened a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 14,232 shares worth about $3.87 million. Apple now makes up roughly 1.4% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 18th largest holding.
• Apple continues to draw strong institutional interest, with several large hedge funds and asset managers adding to their stakes. The article says 67.73% of Apple’s stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Apple after its latest earnings beat, with multiple firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy”. Apple also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share and reported revenue growth of 16.6% year over year.

Ticino Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,232 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,869,000. Apple comprises approximately 1.4% of Ticino Wealth's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $300.23 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $303.20. The company's 50 day moving average price is $265.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company 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 an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.06%.

Apple 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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