Apple Inc. $AAPL is Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 981,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,968,515 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.9% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $266,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in 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. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.98. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.85 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. 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 for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple Company 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.