Apple Inc. $AAPL is Essex Bank’s 3rd Largest Position

Essex Bank lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 107,599 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,881 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.0% of Essex Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Essex Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

AAPL opened at $284.29 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $292.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.17. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.26 and a twelve month high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.85.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and traders see the recent decline as overdone, arguing that Apple’s pullback has created an attractive entry point and that the stock is oversold at support. Stock Of The Day: Is The Apple Sell-Off Over?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on AAPL, saying Apple’s pricing and margin-defense strategy supports upside and leaving its $360 target unchanged. Apple Buy Rating Reiterated as Margin Defense Strategy Supports Upside; $360 Price Target Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided on the broader implications of Apple’s recent price hikes, with some analysts saying the company can pass through costs thanks to its loyal customer base, while others warn the iPhone will be the real test. Apple Can Get Away With Mac Price Hikes, but iPhone Is the Real Test
• Negative Sentiment: Apple raised prices on several Mac and iPad models because surging memory and storage chip costs tied to AI demand are squeezing margins, raising concerns that higher prices could hurt demand and signal more pressure ahead. Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also lost a key Vision Pro hardware executive to OpenAI, adding to investor concern about execution in its spatial-computing and AI efforts. Apple (AAPL) Loses Key Vision Pro Hardware Chief to OpenAI in Major Talent Blow

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.