Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 15,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,000. Apple comprises 2.9% of Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Overbrook Management Corp increased its position in Apple by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management boosted its position in Apple by 4.3% in the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,178,000. Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $105,482,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,915,172,000 after purchasing an additional 214,215 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.
Apple News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Apple’s WWDC AI rollout could be the “first step” toward adding as much as $100 to the stock, as investors focus on the company’s AI execution and the potential for a stronger Siri/Apple Intelligence roadmap. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence suggest Apple is making progress on features that could improve older iPhones, expand software value, and strengthen the case for users to upgrade into the next product cycle. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms reiterating buy/overweight views and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing a bullish long-term sentiment on AAPL. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight Apple’s strong recent operating performance, including record iPhone demand and services revenue, but these are largely a rehash of prior earnings strength rather than a fresh catalyst. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance report says rising memory chip costs could pressure Apple’s hardware margins as AI features require more device memory, creating a potential headwind for profitability over the next few quarters. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: Broader sentiment is also being dampened by articles noting that the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, have been weak in June and have lagged the broader market at times, which can weigh on near-term momentum. Article Title
Apple Price Performance
Shares of Apple stock opened at $296.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.38. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $317.40.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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