Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Boosted by Saiph Capital LLC

Saiph Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 44.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,247 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,676 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.7% of Saiph Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Saiph Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 14.1% during the first quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after buying an additional 3,014 shares during the period. Eaton Cambridge Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after acquiring an additional 18,188 shares during the period. Finally, Davis R M Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,151,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $292,202,000 after acquiring an additional 23,162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.61.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Sept. 9 product event is generating significant interest under new CEO John Ternus, with expectations for new iPhones, an Apple Watch update and potentially the company’s first foldable iPhone. Citi estimates the foldable device could sell 7.3 million units despite a possible price above $2,000. Citi foldable iPhone sales forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter showed strong momentum, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year and earnings exceeding analyst expectations. Morgan Stanley has also suggested the foldable iPhone could contribute roughly $14 billion in December-quarter revenue if successfully launched. Morgan Stanley foldable iPhone estimate
• Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has succeeded Tim Cook as CEO, while Cook remains executive chairman. The transition offers continuity through a longtime Apple executive but raises questions about whether Ternus can accelerate Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy and sustain Cook-era growth. John Ternus becomes Apple CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate initial foldable iPhone production was only a few hundred units per day in late August. Tight quality controls and memory shortages could limit launch supply, delay purchases and prevent Apple from fully capturing expected demand. Foldable iPhone production hurdles
• Negative Sentiment: Memory costs have reportedly surged, potentially forcing Apple to raise iPhone prices, absorb lower margins or risk weaker demand. Jefferies has also downgraded AAPL amid skepticism about the foldable product’s market potential. iPhone memory cost concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over alleged unfair app-tracking rules and a separate BASF patent lawsuit involving facial-authentication technology, adding regulatory and litigation risk. Apple UK app-tracking lawsuit

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 5,872 shares of company stock worth $1,823,201 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $319.97 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $225.95 and a twelve month high of $344.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $315.65 and a 200 day moving average of $290.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were 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 of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

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.