Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Lifted by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 531,586 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,556 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.8% of PFG Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $144,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $293.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $261.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.04. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $294.76.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.74.

About Apple

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.