Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 47,497 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 221,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 47,497 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.1% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during 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 during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $314.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.89. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $323.45. 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 issued its 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. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’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 value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.11.

Key Headlines Impacting 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 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.