Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,568 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.2% of Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $253.00 target price (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $293.25 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.04. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.46 and a twelve month high of $294.76. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is 12.58%.

Key Stories 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 Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.