Apple Inc. $AAPL is Davidson Investment Advisors’ 5th Largest Position

Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 365,179 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.1% of Davidson Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $99,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.74.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic’s Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple’s Desktop Operating System

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $300.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $303.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $265.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 for 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 was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.