Invariant Investment Management Acquires New Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Invariant Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,719 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,224,000. Apple accounts for 0.8% of Invariant Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $112,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $253.00 price target (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $296.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $293.25 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.46 and a twelve month high of $294.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $261.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.58%.

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.