29,578 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Acquired by Forbes Financial Planning Inc.

Forbes Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 29,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,041,000. Apple makes up about 4.7% of Forbes Financial Planning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Apple Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $293.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.46 and a fifty-two week high of $294.76.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.74.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.