LM Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 72.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 29,026 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 76,450 shares during the quarter. LM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $79,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Apple Stock Performance
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.
Apple News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What’s the Path Ahead?
- Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
- Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here’s Why It’s Not Impressing Investors
- Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
- Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple’s AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.59.
View Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
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.
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