Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 1,949 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Fulton Bank N.A. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 274,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,949 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.5% of Fulton Bank N.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $69,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Cane Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Cane Capital Partners LLC now owns 43,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,951,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares during the period. Vertrix Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,161,000. Whelan Financial boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the first quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 34,271 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,698,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,383,084 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $604,648,000 after acquiring an additional 61,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 3,022,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $767,082,000 after acquiring an additional 98,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was 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 approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. KGI Securities cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $315.32 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $299.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 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 company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

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.