Ackerman Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Ackerman Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 410.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,568 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,368 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.8% of Ackerman Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Ackerman Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,902,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 that occurred on 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 owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What’s the Path Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here’s Why It’s Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple’s AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.

Apple Trading Down 1.5%

Apple stock opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $285.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.