Savant Capital LLC Sells 118,803 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Savant Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 705,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 118,803 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.1% of Savant Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $191,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, 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 value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $283.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple’s AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

Apple Company 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.