Apple Inc. $AAPL is Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s Largest Position

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 877,458 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 113,082 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.5% of Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $238,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management boosted its stake in Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $1,178,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Finally, Montis Financial LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 15.8% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,841,000 after buying an additional 10,640 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted 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. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% 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 have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 3.6%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $317.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $283.19 and its 200 day moving average is $271.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple’s AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

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.