Phillip James Consulting Co. Buys New Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Phillip James Consulting Co. purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,134 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,668,000. Apple accounts for approximately 28.8% of Phillip James Consulting Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, 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 owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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 Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $289.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.98. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.85 and a 1 year high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.