Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich Buys 61,807 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 61,807 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.0% of Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich’s holdings in Apple were worth $82,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.74.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $308.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.62. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $311.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, 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 was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. 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.