Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC Sells 12,133 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,243 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,133 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 47.1% of Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $85,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $298.01 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $289.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.98. The company has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.85 and a twelve month high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS 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 is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

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.