Vertrix Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Vertrix Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 32,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,161,000. Apple makes up 3.0% of Vertrix Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Whelan Financial boosted its stake in Apple by 2.1% during the first quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 34,271 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,698,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,383,084 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $604,648,000 after acquiring an additional 61,649 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 3,022,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $767,082,000 after acquiring an additional 98,016 shares in the last quarter. DeLarme Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 120.3% in the first quarter. DeLarme Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,687 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after acquiring an additional 6,383 shares during the period. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. now owns 13,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,495,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.85.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $0.90 on Friday, reaching $315.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,104,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,736,044. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $299.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $4.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.50 and a twelve month high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new lawsuit against OpenAI could help protect its hardware roadmap and reinforce its control over proprietary technology, which may support its long-term competitive position. Reuters: Apple sues OpenAI, two former employees for trade secrets theft
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines around Apple’s expanded multi-year chip deal with Broadcom continue to boost sentiment, since the agreement strengthens Apple’s supply chain, supports U.S. manufacturing, and deepens its custom silicon strategy. Yahoo Finance: Apple Secures Largest Ever US Chip Deal With Broadcom For $30 Billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple was also named among approved U.S. companies eligible for license-free exports under eased UAE trade rules, which is supportive for international operations but not clearly a near-term stock catalyst. Quiver Quant: U.S. eases export controls on UAE
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change, suggesting today’s move is being driven more by news flow than by a shift in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: The OpenAI lawsuit also highlights that Apple’s relationship with a major AI player has soured, adding uncertainty around future AI partnerships and potentially distracting management with litigation. Financial Times: Apple sues OpenAI, alleging it stole top-secret information

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.