Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 351.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,931 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,305 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.8% of Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Laurel Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,699 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC now owns 16,157 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 10,194 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 13,292,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,613,609,000 after acquiring an additional 42,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Successful Portfolios LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 20,252 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,253,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.31.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $280.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $260.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.14. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.25 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 161.46% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat and June-quarter guidance well above Street expectations, giving investors confidence in near-term sales momentum and margins. Apple stages sharpest rally in 9 months as execs cite iPhone, Mac demand in boosting guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management expanded capital returns — a large share buyback ($100B) plus a dividend raise — which supports EPS and buyback-driven upside. Apple (AAPL) Stock: Q2 Earnings Beat … and $100B Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger-than-expected demand in Greater China and for the iPhone 17 and Mac lineup (including Mac Mini demand for AI work) is driving top-line upside and a re-rating by some analysts. Apple’s China sales jumped 28%: now analysts are rethinking AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets and options activity surged, signaling bullish positioning and expectations for further upside. Analyst moves & options flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple signaled it is retiring its net-cash-neutral target — investors interpret this as freeing cash for a potential large AI acquisition, but timing and impact remain speculative. Apple just gave a subtle clue that a splashy AI acquisition may be in the cards
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/services expansion — Apple aims to grow its sports/TV footprint (Formula One content and TV deals), which supports longer-term services revenue diversification but is incremental near term. Apple’s Cue expects F1 movie sequel…
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned that the global memory-chip shortage is worsening — that creates a real near-term cost/margin headwind and could force pricing or longer-term supplier commitments. Apple Warns the Memory Shortage Is Getting Worse
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious — Wall Street is split on whether the beat is sustainable versus one-time effects (tariff refunds, inventory/timing), leaving valuation and durability questions. Wall Street Splits on Apple After Q2 Beat

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 value of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, 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 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. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by 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.