Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC Increases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,907 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Apple by 890.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after buying an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.85.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and traders see the recent decline as overdone, arguing that Apple’s pullback has created an attractive entry point and that the stock is oversold at support. Stock Of The Day: Is The Apple Sell-Off Over?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on AAPL, saying Apple’s pricing and margin-defense strategy supports upside and leaving its $360 target unchanged. Apple Buy Rating Reiterated as Margin Defense Strategy Supports Upside; $360 Price Target Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided on the broader implications of Apple’s recent price hikes, with some analysts saying the company can pass through costs thanks to its loyal customer base, while others warn the iPhone will be the real test. Apple Can Get Away With Mac Price Hikes, but iPhone Is the Real Test
• Negative Sentiment: Apple raised prices on several Mac and iPad models because surging memory and storage chip costs tied to AI demand are squeezing margins, raising concerns that higher prices could hurt demand and signal more pressure ahead. Apple raises prices of MacBooks, iPads as memory costs skyrocket
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also lost a key Vision Pro hardware executive to OpenAI, adding to investor concern about execution in its spatial-computing and AI efforts. Apple (AAPL) Loses Key Vision Pro Hardware Chief to OpenAI in Major Talent Blow

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $284.29 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $292.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.17. 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 $199.26 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The company has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.