Michael Brady & Co. LLC Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Michael Brady & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,128,000. Apple comprises 2.1% of Michael Brady & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.74.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic’s Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple’s Desktop Operating System

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $300.23 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $303.20. 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 $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $265.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.