Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,185 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,557,000. Apple makes up about 2.2% of Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $364.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.60.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record June-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, and diluted EPS of $2.02, exceeding Wall Street expectations. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s large installed base, strong hardware demand and potential consumer-AI opportunities remain long-term supports. Some analysts remain bullish: TD Cowen raised its price target to $400, while other firms maintained Buy or Overweight ratings despite trimming estimates. Analyst raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, payable August 13 to shareholders of record August 10. Apple also continues to emphasize an AI strategy that requires less capital spending than the infrastructure-heavy approach used by some peers. Apple Q3 financial results

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $308.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $309.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.45. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 142.29%. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.8 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.