Apple Inc. $AAPL is Anchor Investment Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Anchor Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 130,632 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,688 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of Anchor Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% in 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 raised its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.85 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $289.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Key Stories 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 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.