J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. Takes Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 69,651 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $18,936,000. Apple comprises 4.4% of J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Orion Investment Co boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,902,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is becoming more optimistic about Apple’s new Siri and AI strategy after the post-WWDC selloff, suggesting investors may be overreacting to near-term skepticism. After an Initial Panic, Wall Street’s Leaning Into Apple’s New Siri AI
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple has agreed to partner with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the U.S. are being viewed as a supply-chain diversification win and a long-term catalyst for Apple’s hardware roadmap. Apple’s Intel Deal Arrives at the Right Time for Its Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook’s comments about higher memory costs and upcoming price increases are being interpreted by some analysts as supportive of Apple’s earnings power, since price hikes could help offset component inflation. Apple: Empirical Evidence Suggests Upcoming Price Hikes Will Boost Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s TV and streaming strategy is drawing attention, but the discussion appears more explanatory than immediately material to the stock. Apple Explains TV Library Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: A Zacks comparison of NVIDIA and Apple highlights Apple’s lower valuation and services strength, reinforcing the stock’s defensive appeal without changing the near-term setup. NVIDIA vs. Apple: Which Tech Titan Is the Better Buy Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s competition tribunal approved a £3 billion class action over iCloud fees, adding a meaningful legal overhang and potential financial liability for Apple. UK tribunal gives go ahead for $4 billion lawsuit against Apple over iCloud services
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces reputational risk after closing its first unionized U.S. store, with the union accusing the company of retaliation. Apple Just Closed Its First Unionized U.S. Store
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say Apple is forcing price increases on hardware because memory and chip costs are rising, which could pressure demand if consumers push back. Memory’s price surge threatens Apple’s ‘magic formula’ — and the economy

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.85.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $294.98 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.26 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.06. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. 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 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

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.