Planning Center Inc. Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Planning Center Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,903 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.8% of Planning Center Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Planning Center Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 11.2% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 139,491 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,402,000 after acquiring an additional 14,099 shares during the period. FLP Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 8.4% in the first quarter. FLP Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in Apple by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 39,696 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,075,000 after purchasing an additional 5,521 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 134,963 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,252,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 76,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,336,000 after purchasing an additional 6,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $333.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.50 and a fifty-two week high of $334.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. 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 research note on Friday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.43.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy and raised its price target to $366 from $260, saying the company is at an operational turning point with AI features and hardware momentum supporting growth. HSBC upgrades Apple to Buy, sees “strong cycle ahead”
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, and Apple will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model in its China rollout, a key step that could expand Apple’s AI adoption in one of its most important markets. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple briefly overtook Nvidia in market value, reinforcing the view that investors are rotating toward Apple’s consumer execution and away from some AI-heavy names. Apple closes in on Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries highlighted Apple’s cash generation, shareholder returns, and robotics/innovation efforts, supporting the bullish “cash flow machine” and diversification narrative. Apple’s Core Business Cash Flow Machine Will Support Innovation and Diversification

Apple Company 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.