BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,703 shares during the quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new Siri and broader AI reset is being viewed positively by analysts, with BofA reiterating a Buy rating and saying the WWDC update could strengthen Apple’s AI position and support the stock. BofA Says Apple’s (AAPL) New Siri Strategy Could Strengthen its AI Position
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s reported chip partnership with Intel is being framed as strategically important, with investors focused on supply-chain diversification and a longer-term domestic chip roadmap that could benefit future product cycles. Apple-Intel chip deal makes strategic sense but production is years away
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentaries say Apple shares are building toward a possible breakout, with the stock staying close to its all-time high and forming a fresh buy zone as momentum improves. Apple Stock Polishing New Buy Zone With All-Time High In Sight
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is also drawing attention for comments from Eddy Cue about expanding entertainment offerings on Apple TV and in theaters, which supports the long-term services story but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Apple aims for better and more entertainment offerings, executive Cue says
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are still weighing headwinds from rising memory costs and the possibility of iPhone price increases, which could pressure demand if Apple passes through higher component prices. Apple Price Hike Fears May Be Overblown, Says J.P. Morgan
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces legal overhang after a UK tribunal allowed a $4 billion iCloud class-action lawsuit to proceed, adding another potential regulatory and financial risk. Apple supplier Lingyi iTech prices $1.06 billion Hong Kong IPO to tap AI demand

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $293.05 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.26 and a 52-week high of $317.40. 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 company has a market cap of $4.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $291.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $273.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Corporate 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.