23,059 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Acquired by Banta Asset Management LP

Banta Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 23,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,269,000. Apple comprises 5.7% of Banta Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $253.00 target price (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.82.

Apple News Summary

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 Stock Down 1.2%

Apple stock opened at $307.34 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.07 and a fifty-two week high of $316.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.16, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.37.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

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.