Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Cut by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 287,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,294 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 10.9% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $78,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Overbrook Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares in the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Montis Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,841,000 after acquiring an additional 10,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 120,674 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,727,000 after acquiring an additional 21,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research 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 issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.74.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 136,810 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $293.25 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $294.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $261.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. 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 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

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.