Northern Financial Advisors Inc lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 45.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,925 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.4% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 48.4% during 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 period. Tufton Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third 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. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after purchasing an additional 214,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montis Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 15.8% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,640 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
- Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
- Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
- Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
- Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
- Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic’s Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple’s Desktop Operating System
Apple Price Performance
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $111.18 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.74.
Get Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Insider Transactions at Apple
In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
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.
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