895,540 Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by Retirement Planning Group LLC

Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 556.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,056,547 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 895,540 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 8.0% of Retirement Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $351,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV grew its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 1,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Evansbrook LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. JMG Financial Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Forward LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Forward LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,438,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Melius Research set a $370.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Argus increased their target price on Apple from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.18, for a total transaction of $806,495.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,116,870.56. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $349.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $243.42 and a one year high of $354.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $334.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post-election relief helped lift major technology stocks, including Apple, as investors saw reduced near-term uncertainty. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reached a record high amid signs of renewed demand. Investors are also weighing the rollout of Apple Intelligence in China, which could help close a competitive gap in a major market. Invezz article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reducing employee budgets for AI tools as it seeks to manage expenses, while reported research costs have climbed 32%. Cost control may help, but the spending trend underscores the expense of competing in AI. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory prices remain a key risk to profitability: Apple expects higher component costs to pressure holiday-quarter gross margins, and its manufacturing purchase commitments have increased. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margin concerns persist despite the rally; DZ Bank downgraded Apple to sell, citing a $300 price target. MarketBeat ratings

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.