Phillip James Consulting Co. Buys New Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,134 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,668,000. Apple accounts for about 28.8% of Phillip James Consulting Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 21,243 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after buying an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,825,000. Copos Capital S.a r.l. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,496,000. Blue Capital Inc. raised its position in Apple by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Capital Inc. now owns 7,507 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,136,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. 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 $196.85 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business’s quarterly 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were 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 was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Insider Activity at Apple

In related 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.