Wendell David Associates Inc. Has $64.04 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Wendell David Associates trimmed its Apple stake by 2.3% in the first quarter, but Apple remains its largest holding at about 7% of the portfolio. The position was still worth $64.04 million at quarter-end.
• Apple is benefiting from several positive headlines, including a multi-year chip deal with Broadcom and a lawsuit against OpenAI that could help protect its technology and hardware roadmap. These developments are supporting sentiment around Apple’s long-term strategy.
• Apple also reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both above analyst estimates. The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Wendell David Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 252,349 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,961 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 7.0% of Wendell David Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Wendell David Associates Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $64,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new lawsuit against OpenAI could help protect its hardware roadmap and reinforce its control over proprietary technology, which may support its long-term competitive position. Reuters: Apple sues OpenAI, two former employees for trade secrets theft
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines around Apple’s expanded multi-year chip deal with Broadcom continue to boost sentiment, since the agreement strengthens Apple’s supply chain, supports U.S. manufacturing, and deepens its custom silicon strategy. Yahoo Finance: Apple Secures Largest Ever US Chip Deal With Broadcom For $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple was also named among approved U.S. companies eligible for license-free exports under eased UAE trade rules, which is supportive for international operations but not clearly a near-term stock catalyst. Quiver Quant: U.S. eases export controls on UAE
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change, suggesting today’s move is being driven more by news flow than by a shift in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: The OpenAI lawsuit also highlights that Apple’s relationship with a major AI player has soured, adding uncertainty around future AI partnerships and potentially distracting management with litigation. Financial Times: Apple sues OpenAI, alleging it stole top-secret information

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.85.

Apple Trading Down 0.3%

AAPL traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $315.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,104,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,736,044. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.50 and a twelve month high of $317.40. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $299.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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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