Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $56.36 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 207,293 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,841 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 15.7% during the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on the stock 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, 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 value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

AAPL stock opened at $293.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.06. 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 $193.46 and a 12 month high of $294.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $261.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.58%.

Apple Company 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.