Alta Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Alta Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 239,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 92,950 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.3% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $65,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its holdings in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% 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 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL stock opened at $307.34 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.07 and a twelve month high of $316.94. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $281.39 and a 200 day moving average of $271.37.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC keynote is expected to highlight a revamped Siri, Apple Intelligence updates, and a broader AI strategy, which could act as a near-term catalyst if the company shows meaningful progress. Will WWDC Drive Apple Stock (AAPL) Higher? Here’s What Analysts Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive, with Citi reiterating a Buy and Wedbush reaffirming Outperform with a $400 target, citing Apple’s AI inflection point and resilient iPhone fundamentals. Asiya Merchant Reiterates Buy on Apple, Citing AI Strategy Inflection and Resilient iPhone Fundamentals
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s App Store update showed $1.4 trillion in sales and billings last year, reinforcing the scale of its Services ecosystem even as most transactions did not carry a commission. Apple touts $1.4 trillion in App Store billings and sales, 90% without a commission
• Positive Sentiment: Foxconn raised its second-quarter outlook, a constructive signal for Apple’s supply chain and iPhone demand, since Foxconn is Apple’s top iPhone assembler. Taiwan’s Foxconn raises guidance for second-quarter outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple may rely on Google cloud infrastructure and Nvidia chips to power a redesigned Siri suggest the company is prioritizing speed to market, but they also underscore that Apple is leaning on outside partners for its AI push. Apple Taps Google to Prep Siri For September Revamp
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warns that Apple still faces a high bar to justify its valuation, and UBS noted decelerating App Store growth could pressure the Services growth story if AI execution disappoints. Investors Should Worry About Apple’s (AAPL) Decelerating App Store Growth, Says UBS

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.