Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 66.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 981,399 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,968,515 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.9% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $266,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,990,000. Capstone Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Bauman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,554,000. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,841,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, Kinloch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 6,127 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after buying an additional 2,058 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $289.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.98. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.85 and a 52 week high of $317.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.