Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its Apple stake by 6.9% in Q4, buying 102,111 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,576,668 shares worth about $428.6 million.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $310.31.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,576,668 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 102,111 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.0% of Wealthfront Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $428,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $312.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $313.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on 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 given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $310.31.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying agentic AI could strengthen Apple’s ecosystem and create meaningful new revenue opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple is preparing a major Siri overhaul for WWDC, including a new app-like experience designed to compete more directly with ChatGPT-style assistants, which could improve sentiment around Apple’s AI roadmap.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary continue to argue that Apple’s installed base, privacy controls, payments, and device ownership give it a strong position if AI assistants become a primary interface for search, commerce, and productivity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s stock is already near record territory, so some of the optimism around AI and WWDC may already be reflected in the share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles note that Apple is still viewed by parts of the market as an AI laggard versus rivals, and that its valuation is already rich, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints.

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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