Belpointe Asset Management LLC Buys 4,366 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 251,704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.5% of Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vista Finance LLC boosted its position in Apple by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Aspiring Ventures LLC boosted its position in Apple by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspiring Ventures LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,769,000 after buying an additional 3,324 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 179,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $48,732,000 after buying an additional 75,337 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. now owns 26,950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,327,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 60,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,518,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $308.74.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $300.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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. 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%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors 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 represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, 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 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 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter was a clear beat, with revenue of $111.18 billion and EPS of $2.01 topping expectations, while management also approved a fresh $100 billion buyback and raised the dividend.
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target on Apple to $365 from $330 and reiterated an Outperform rating, citing strong Services growth and long-term earnings/free-cash-flow compounding.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm remains elevated around Apple’s AI roadmap, with reports pointing to WWDC as a potential catalyst and broader expectations that Apple can monetize AI through devices and Services.
• Positive Sentiment: China-related headlines may also help sentiment, as Xi Jinping told U.S. CEOs including Tim Cook that China will “open wider,” easing some concerns about Apple’s supply chain and market access.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly exploring new AI-agent support in the App Store and additional iOS features, which could support the ecosystem but are still early-stage product rumors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Security reports about vulnerabilities found in macOS/iOS are a reminder of cyber risks, but they do not yet appear to be a material earnings issue.
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI is reportedly considering legal action against Apple over their ChatGPT partnership, raising the risk of a public dispute around Apple’s AI strategy.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling and a reported Foxconn ransomware incident may slightly temper sentiment, though neither looks large enough to outweigh the bullish earnings and analyst upgrades.

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.