Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,317 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,529 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.3% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $55,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.31.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, citing Apple’s positioning in the emerging “agentic AI” smartphone market and possible upside from a redesigned Siri and other AI-driven products. Apple seen as key beneficiary of emerging agentic AI smartphone market, BofA says
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary say Apple’s stock hit record highs as AI concerns faded and investors positioned for upcoming WWDC announcements, reinforcing the view that Apple could unlock a new growth cycle. Apple Stock Hits New Record Highs as AI Doubts Begin to Fade
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s services business remains a strong tailwind, with recent commentary highlighting record Services revenue and continued growth in ads, TV+, sports, and Maps-related monetization. Strong Content & Advertising Aids Apple’s Services: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple shares reached a fresh record near $311.82, pushing its market value toward the $5 trillion mark and signaling strong momentum heading into WWDC. Apple (AAPL) Stock Surges Toward Historic $5 Trillion Valuation

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $308.33 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $271.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.07 and a fifty-two week high of $311.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 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 company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

Apple 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.