Bollard Group LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Bollard Group LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,157 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,064 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.4% of Bollard Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $195.07 and a one year high of $317.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $285.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value 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 represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

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.