Lipe & Dalton Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lipe & Dalton lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 66,911 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,482 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 9.0% of Lipe & Dalton’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted 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 valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Apple by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $293.25 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $261.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.46 and a 52 week high of $294.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06.

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, 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 last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid 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 is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.58%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Phillip Securities raised shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.74.

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.