Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $105.69 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 416,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.3% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $105,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say the price hikes could help Apple protect margins by passing through rising component costs, and long-term bulls still view the company as financially strong. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s AI strategy remains a work in progress, with some coverage saying the company’s AI upgrade likely will not be a major near-term catalyst for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s decision to raise Mac and iPad prices has sparked concern about weaker demand and “demand friction,” especially if consumers push back on higher-priced devices. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market weakness and a tech selloff added pressure, with Apple leading the downside among major technology names. Article Title

Apple Trading Down 6.1%

AAPL opened at $275.15 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.26 and a twelve month high of $317.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $292.16 and a 200-day moving average of $273.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.09. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

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.