SageGuard Financial Group LLC Takes $39.42 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

SageGuard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 145,017 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $39,424,000. Apple makes up 6.3% of SageGuard Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.74.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $300.23 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $303.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $265.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic’s Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple’s Desktop Operating System

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.