Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC trimmed its Apple stake by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,157 shares and ending with 84,485 shares valued at about $22.97 million.
• Apple continues to attract strong institutional interest overall, with hedge funds and other investors owning 67.73% of the stock and several firms recently adding or opening positions.
• The article highlights ongoing bullish catalysts for Apple, including growth in Services, new Apple Intelligence features, and shares trading near their 52-week high amid upbeat analyst targets.

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,485 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,157 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.3% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $22,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is rolling out new Apple Intelligence features, including AI-powered accessibility tools and planned iOS 27 upgrades such as smarter writing help, Shortcuts improvements, and wallpaper features, reinforcing the view that AI can drive the next phase of growth. Apple announces Apple Intelligence powered accessibility feature updates
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple recent articles highlight Apple’s Services business as a major profit engine, suggesting investors are starting to value Apple less as just an iPhone maker and more as a higher-margin platform company. AAPL: Forget the iPhone—Services Will Drive the Next Phase of Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Apple remains near record levels, with commentary pointing to strong iPhone and Services performance and analyst targets well above current trading ranges, which supports the bullish valuation narrative. Apple Trades Close to 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors continue to add Apple exposure, including a new near-$1 billion stake from Viking Global, signaling ongoing big-money confidence in AAPL. Viking Global Opens Fresh Apple Stake Worth Nearly $1 Billion As Big Tech Trade Roars Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s return of Fortnite to the App Store removes one high-profile friction point, but it also keeps attention on Apple’s App Store control and ongoing platform disputes. Fortnite Returns to the App Store Amid Clashes With Apple
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ordered Apple to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding to regulatory risk around Apple’s platform practices and potential penalties. Indian court tells Apple to 'cooperate' in antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Samsung and Google unveiled AI smart glasses to challenge Meta and Apple, underscoring intensifying competition in next-generation consumer AI hardware. Samsung and Google Announce AI Smart Glasses to Challenge Meta and Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple’s global Formula 1 streaming ambitions may take time to expand beyond the U.S. because of differing international media-rights cycles, limiting the near-term boost from that deal. After U.S. deal, Apple's global F1 push may take time

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $298.97 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $266.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $303.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $296.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven 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 price target of $308.74.

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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