Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,771 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,038 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.8% of Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Orion Investment Co boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,902,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.85 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $289.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.98. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

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.