Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Sells 2,176 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC cut its Apple stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,176 shares and leaving it with 46,234 shares worth about $12.57 million.
• Apple continues to attract broad institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors actively adding or adjusting positions; institutional holders still own 67.73% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $308.74, while Apple also reported strong quarterly results and recently raised its dividend to $0.27 per share.

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,234 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,176 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.2% of Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $12,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd 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 grew its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stephens set a $315.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $308.74.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $308.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $269.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.62. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $311.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's 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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