Windward Capital Management Co. CA Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Windward Capital Management trimmed its Apple stake by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 28,517 shares. Apple remains its largest holding, making up about 16.7% of the portfolio, with the position valued at roughly $211.1 million.
• Apple’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $2.01 versus the $1.95 estimate and revenue of $111.18 billion topping forecasts. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year, underscoring continued business strength.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive despite some caution on valuation: Apple has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $308.74. The stock also recently hit a new high near $311.40 and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Windward Capital Management Co. CA cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 776,677 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 28,517 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 16.7% of Windward Capital Management Co. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings in Apple were worth $211,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $335.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $253.00 target price (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $308.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.63. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $311.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders 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 is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

More Apple News

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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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