Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,520 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,846 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.7% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $11,413,990,000 after acquiring an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy and raised its price target to $366 from $260, saying the company is at an operational turning point with AI features and hardware momentum supporting growth. HSBC upgrades Apple to Buy, sees “strong cycle ahead”
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, and Apple will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model in its China rollout, a key step that could expand Apple’s AI adoption in one of its most important markets. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple briefly overtook Nvidia in market value, reinforcing the view that investors are rotating toward Apple’s consumer execution and away from some AI-heavy names. Apple closes in on Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries highlighted Apple’s cash generation, shareholder returns, and robotics/innovation efforts, supporting the bullish “cash flow machine” and diversification narrative. Apple’s Core Business Cash Flow Machine Will Support Innovation and Diversification

Insider Buying and Selling 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $333.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $303.61 and its 200 day moving average is $277.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $334.99.

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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.43.

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.