Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 28th, 2023

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,359 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.3% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $45,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Apple by 20.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $158.28 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $179.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Apple in a research note on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.