Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,845 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,726 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.0% of Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $293.25 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $294.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $261.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued 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 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.74.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% 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 90 days, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.