True Link Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 1,725 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

True Link Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 56.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,759 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. 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, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Stephens set a $315.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $308.82 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.62. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $311.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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 return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

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.