Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Sharp Wealth Advisory LLC

Sharp Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 34.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.0% of Sharp Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sharp Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target on Apple to $365 and kept a Buy rating, arguing the company can keep gaining market share and may benefit from premium iPhone pricing and Apple Intelligence upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to show strong smartphone performance, including record Q2 market share in China and reports that it has outperformed the broader smartphone slump, which supports the case for resilient demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on potential future catalysts such as a possible iPhone price increase and new product cycles, including foldable iPhone plans and AI-focused chip development. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI is keeping the stock in the headlines; it could protect Apple’s intellectual property and slow a competitor’s hardware push, but it also adds legal uncertainty. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom’s multiyear chip agreement was described as strategically positive for Apple’s AI silicon efforts, but it is more of a longer-term support story than a direct near-term stock mover. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc’s downgrade and related bearish commentary from other firms are the clearest reasons Apple stock is lower, with analysts warning that slowing iPhone upgrades and softer Services growth could limit further upside. Article Title

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $314.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.07, a PEG ratio of 2.76 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. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.50 and a 12 month high of $323.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $301.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. KGI Securities cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.11.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.