Apple Inc. $AAPL is Financial Avengers Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Financial Avengers Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 89,442 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,309 shares during the period. Apple makes up 10.0% of Financial Avengers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Financial Avengers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Apple News

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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.85 and a 12 month high of $317.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $289.73 and its 200 day moving average is $272.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.