Golden State Equity Partners Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 14th, 2023

Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 232.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,096 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,284 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.5% of Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Apple were worth $23,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after buying an additional 569,066,184 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after buying an additional 25,926,552 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its position in Apple by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $150,975,907,000 after buying an additional 20,424,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 16,638.6% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $94,566,000 after buying an additional 15,500,812 shares during the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $178.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.04 and a 200-day moving average of $178.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at $19,237,944.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at $19,237,944.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 455,004 shares of company stock worth $79,238,767. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Piper Jaffray Companies increased their price objective on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Apple from $222.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.54.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL

About Apple

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Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.