First Growth Capital LLC Invests $2.18 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

First Growth Capital LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,180,000. Apple comprises approximately 2.1% of First Growth Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Orion Investment Co increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.80. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.85 and a twelve month high of $317.40. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating on Apple and kept a $380 price target, citing Apple’s pricing power, strong supply-chain position, and ability to manage rising memory costs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: President Trump said Apple will work with Intel to design and build chips in the U.S., raising hopes for a domestic supply-chain boost and stronger strategic positioning for Apple. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said Apple is relatively well positioned to weather the AI-driven memory shortage because of its scale, inventory, and supplier relationships, which may help protect hardware margins. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple reportedly plans to raise prices across its product lineup, which could support margins but may also weigh on consumer demand if the increases are too large. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is also reportedly developing new AI wearables and a foldable iPhone for 2027, which supports the long-term product pipeline but is unlikely to affect near-term earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Italy opened a Digital Markets Act probe into Apple’s cloud interoperability practices, adding another regulatory risk for the company in Europe. Article Title

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.