Blankinship & Foster LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Blankinship & Foster LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 57.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,652 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Blankinship & Foster LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Blankinship & Foster LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 150,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,076,000 after buying an additional 26,053 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,784 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,396,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 19,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,923,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.9% during the first quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 28,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 50.8% in the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 37,248 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,453,000 after acquiring an additional 12,548 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.85.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $284.29 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $199.26 and a one year high of $317.40. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $292.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.17.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.