Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 62.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,806 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.3% of Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $308.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $269.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.63. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.46 and a 52 week high of $311.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

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.