PFG Advisors Sells 68,245 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

PFG Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 155,081 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 68,245 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.0% of PFG Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $42,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th 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 lifted its position in Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $300.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $265.37 and its 200-day moving average is $267.48. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $303.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic’s Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple’s Desktop Operating System

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.