Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Has $15.66 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,586 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,081 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.6% of Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $317.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $283.19 and its 200 day moving average is $271.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Apple

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.