Greenwood Gearhart Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,673 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,865 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.3% of Greenwood Gearhart Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Greenwood Gearhart Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $59,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Overbrook Management Corp grew its position in Apple by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Apple by 48.4% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after acquiring an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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 transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $253.00 price target (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.82.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $310.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.07 and a twelve month high of $316.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $279.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.84.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts reiterated bullish views on Apple ahead of WWDC, including Goldman Sachs keeping a Buy rating with a $340 target and Evercore ISI lifting its target to $365, citing Apple’s AI roadmap, ecosystem strength, and services growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor expectations remain high that Apple will unveil major AI updates at WWDC, especially a rebuilt Siri and deeper Apple Intelligence features, which could extend the stock’s recent rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports suggest Apple may expand its ecosystem with a native bill-splitting/payment feature in iOS, which could deepen user engagement and strengthen its services revenue stream. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Apple’s stock has been upbeat, with articles highlighting outperformance versus the S&P 500 and strong demand for iPhones and Macs ahead of the conference. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS said not to expect fireworks from WWDC and kept a Neutral rating, suggesting the event may not deliver a near-term stock catalyst if announcements disappoint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s recent gains and all-time high have also prompted valuation concerns, with some analysts and commentators warning the shares may already price in a lot of good news. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple agreed to submit India business financials in an antitrust case, keeping regulatory risk in focus and raising the possibility of penalties. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive headlines from Nvidia, Walmart, and others show mounting pressure on parts of Apple’s ecosystem, including PCs and payments, which could weigh on sentiment if rivals gain traction. 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.