Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Has $18.52 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,139 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,824 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.2% of Heritage Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Heritage Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $292.68 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $294.76. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest earnings showed record-like strength, with revenue and EPS beating estimates and iPhone sales surging, reinforcing confidence in the company’s core business and margin profile.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is being viewed more favorably on AI and product innovation, with analysts and commentators highlighting a coming WWDC catalyst, deeper AI integration, and potential new growth from wearables, Vision products, and smart glasses.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple may use Intel for some chip production could be seen as strategically positive because it reduces reliance on a single supplier and may improve long-term supply-chain resilience. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s pricing power remains intact, as it reportedly raised the Mac mini’s starting price while still seeing strong demand and backorders, suggesting healthy interest in its hardware lineup.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple will pay its quarterly dividend today, which supports the stock’s income appeal but is not likely a major near-term share-price driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Arthur Levinson’s $71 million stock sale may temper enthusiasm a bit, since insider selling near highs can signal management caution or profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warns that Apple’s stock may be getting stretched after its run-up, and rising component costs could pressure future margins if consumer hardware pricing becomes harder to manage.

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.