Constant Guidance Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Constant Guidance Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.4% of Constant Guidance Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Constant Guidance Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd 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 increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st 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 bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.79. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.07 and a twelve month high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 business 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 firm’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 company posted $1.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

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.