Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Cut by Kimelman & Baird LLC

Kimelman & Baird LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 284,277 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,743 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.9% of Kimelman & Baird LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $77,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased 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 valued at $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased 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 valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL stock opened at $307.34 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.07 and a fifty-two week high of $316.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $281.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC keynote is expected to highlight a revamped Siri, Apple Intelligence updates, and a broader AI strategy, which could act as a near-term catalyst if the company shows meaningful progress. Will WWDC Drive Apple Stock (AAPL) Higher? Here’s What Analysts Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive, with Citi reiterating a Buy and Wedbush reaffirming Outperform with a $400 target, citing Apple’s AI inflection point and resilient iPhone fundamentals. Asiya Merchant Reiterates Buy on Apple, Citing AI Strategy Inflection and Resilient iPhone Fundamentals
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s App Store update showed $1.4 trillion in sales and billings last year, reinforcing the scale of its Services ecosystem even as most transactions did not carry a commission. Apple touts $1.4 trillion in App Store billings and sales, 90% without a commission
• Positive Sentiment: Foxconn raised its second-quarter outlook, a constructive signal for Apple’s supply chain and iPhone demand, since Foxconn is Apple’s top iPhone assembler. Taiwan’s Foxconn raises guidance for second-quarter outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple may rely on Google cloud infrastructure and Nvidia chips to power a redesigned Siri suggest the company is prioritizing speed to market, but they also underscore that Apple is leaning on outside partners for its AI push. Apple Taps Google to Prep Siri For September Revamp
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warns that Apple still faces a high bar to justify its valuation, and UBS noted decelerating App Store growth could pressure the Services growth story if AI execution disappoints. Investors Should Worry About Apple’s (AAPL) Decelerating App Store Growth, Says UBS

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating 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 issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.82.

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.