Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,359,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,800,944 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.8% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,719,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Overbrook Management Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,178,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after acquiring an additional 214,215 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,246,305 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $572,168,000 after acquiring an additional 116,960 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $285.64 and a 200-day moving average of $272.27. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $317.40. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What’s the Path Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here’s Why It’s Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple’s AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.