Berkeley Inc Acquires 5,144 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Berkeley Inc increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 196.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,761 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,144 shares during the period. Berkeley Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Apple stock opened at $293.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $294.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $261.85 and a 200 day moving average of $266.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) 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 issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.74.

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.