Bravias Capital Group LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Bravias Capital Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,738 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,186 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.3% of Bravias Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bravias Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $333.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $334.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $303.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued 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 positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.43.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy and raised its price target to $366 from $260, saying the company is at an operational turning point with AI features and hardware momentum supporting growth. HSBC upgrades Apple to Buy, sees “strong cycle ahead”
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, and Apple will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model in its China rollout, a key step that could expand Apple’s AI adoption in one of its most important markets. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple briefly overtook Nvidia in market value, reinforcing the view that investors are rotating toward Apple’s consumer execution and away from some AI-heavy names. Apple closes in on Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries highlighted Apple’s cash generation, shareholder returns, and robotics/innovation efforts, supporting the bullish “cash flow machine” and diversification narrative. Apple’s Core Business Cash Flow Machine Will Support Innovation and Diversification

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.