Apple Inc. $AAPL is Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s Largest Position

Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,432 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,648 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.9% of Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly launching a new device leasing program with Klarna, a major change to how it sells hardware that could support upgrade demand and recurring device sales. Reuters: Apple to launch ‘Upgrade’ device leasing program to spur sales, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple, saying it is entering a powerful new upgrade cycle supported by AI and a strong hardware roadmap. Barchart: HSBC Says Apple Is Entering a Powerful New Upgrade Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators highlighted Apple’s pricing power, strong installed base, and relative insulation from the AI capex arms race as reasons investors are favoring AAPL over some other mega-cap tech names. MarketBeat: Apple Stock Sends Major Warning Signal as Momentum Hits Peak

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $327.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.50 and a 12 month high of $334.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $304.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.89.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company 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%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial set a $380.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.71.

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.