Ebert Capital Management Inc. Makes New $1.86 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Ebert Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,148 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,855,000. Apple comprises about 1.8% of Ebert Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $310.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $279.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $270.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.07 and a 12 month high of $316.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts reiterated bullish views on Apple ahead of WWDC, including Goldman Sachs keeping a Buy rating with a $340 target and Evercore ISI lifting its target to $365, citing Apple’s AI roadmap, ecosystem strength, and services growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor expectations remain high that Apple will unveil major AI updates at WWDC, especially a rebuilt Siri and deeper Apple Intelligence features, which could extend the stock’s recent rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports suggest Apple may expand its ecosystem with a native bill-splitting/payment feature in iOS, which could deepen user engagement and strengthen its services revenue stream. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Apple’s stock has been upbeat, with articles highlighting outperformance versus the S&P 500 and strong demand for iPhones and Macs ahead of the conference. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS said not to expect fireworks from WWDC and kept a Neutral rating, suggesting the event may not deliver a near-term stock catalyst if announcements disappoint. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s recent gains and all-time high have also prompted valuation concerns, with some analysts and commentators warning the shares may already price in a lot of good news. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple agreed to submit India business financials in an antitrust case, keeping regulatory risk in focus and raising the possibility of penalties. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive headlines from Nvidia, Walmart, and others show mounting pressure on parts of Apple’s ecosystem, including PCs and payments, which could weigh on sentiment if rivals gain traction. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.82.

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.