Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lessened by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 433,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,957 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.0% of Moors & Cabot Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $117,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its position in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management boosted its position in Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Finally, Montis Financial LLC boosted its position in Apple by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,841,000 after buying an additional 10,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple’s AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

Apple Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.07 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

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.