Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust Takes $21.18 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 77,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $21,179,000. Apple makes up 5.7% of Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $283.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple’s AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

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.