Lmcg Investments LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lmcg Investments LLC grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,873 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.0% of Lmcg Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $67,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% 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, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.71.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly launching a new device leasing program with Klarna, a major change to how it sells hardware that could support upgrade demand and recurring device sales. Reuters: Apple to launch ‘Upgrade’ device leasing program to spur sales, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple, saying it is entering a powerful new upgrade cycle supported by AI and a strong hardware roadmap. Barchart: HSBC Says Apple Is Entering a Powerful New Upgrade Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators highlighted Apple’s pricing power, strong installed base, and relative insulation from the AI capex arms race as reasons investors are favoring AAPL over some other mega-cap tech names. MarketBeat: Apple Stock Sends Major Warning Signal as Momentum Hits Peak

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $327.74 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $304.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.89. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.50 and a 12 month high of $334.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

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.