Reflection Asset Management Takes $7.50 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 27,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $7,503,000. Apple accounts for 5.3% of Reflection Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Apple News

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $298.01 on Monday. 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. 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 fifty-two week low of $196.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $289.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. 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. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.