PDS Planning Inc Boosts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,914 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.4% of PDS Planning Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $7,661,010.70. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $293.25 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $261.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.04. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.46 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost 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 presently 12.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Stephens set a $315.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.74.

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.