Apple Inc. $AAPL is NWF Advisory Services Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

NWF Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,927 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,702 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.9% of NWF Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. NWF Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $35,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 890.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after acquiring an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Apple News

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 Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $298.01 on Monday. 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 52 week low of $196.85 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $289.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.