SMART Wealth LLC Acquires 2,724 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

SMART Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,375 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,724 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 1.2% of SMART Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. SMART Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.85.

Apple Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AAPL opened at $315.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.50 and a 1 year high of $317.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $299.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.26.

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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new lawsuit against OpenAI could help protect its hardware roadmap and reinforce its control over proprietary technology, which may support its long-term competitive position. Reuters: Apple sues OpenAI, two former employees for trade secrets theft
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines around Apple’s expanded multi-year chip deal with Broadcom continue to boost sentiment, since the agreement strengthens Apple’s supply chain, supports U.S. manufacturing, and deepens its custom silicon strategy. Yahoo Finance: Apple Secures Largest Ever US Chip Deal With Broadcom For $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple was also named among approved U.S. companies eligible for license-free exports under eased UAE trade rules, which is supportive for international operations but not clearly a near-term stock catalyst. Quiver Quant: U.S. eases export controls on UAE
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change, suggesting today’s move is being driven more by news flow than by a shift in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: The OpenAI lawsuit also highlights that Apple’s relationship with a major AI player has soured, adding uncertainty around future AI partnerships and potentially distracting management with litigation. Financial Times: Apple sues OpenAI, alleging it stole top-secret information

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.