Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 5,697 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 723,806 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,697 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Apple were worth $183,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.40.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone demand and steady pricing are expected to produce Apple’s strongest June-quarter revenue growth in five years. Analysts are also watching for contributions from Services, Mac, and iPhone 17 shipments. Apple set for strongest June-quarter sales growth in 5 years
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new Apple Upgrade program, powered by Klarna, lets U.S. customers lease iPhones, Macs, iPads, and Apple Watches through monthly payments. The initiative could lower upfront costs, increase upgrade frequency, and support device sales. Apple launches US device leasing program with Klarna
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group modestly raised its fiscal 2027 EPS forecast to $9.57 from $9.56, above the current-year consensus estimate of $8.76, reinforcing the bullish long-term earnings outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s record valuation reflects investor confidence in its relatively disciplined AI spending and improving product demand, while money has rotated away from Nvidia and other high-spending chip stocks. However, options markets imply a comparatively contained post-earnings move, suggesting much of the optimism may already be priced in. Apple Could Swing $170 Billion In Value After Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a leadership transition, with Tim Cook preparing for his final earnings call as CEO and hardware chief John Ternus scheduled to succeed him. Investors will seek evidence that the incoming CEO can sustain growth beyond the iPhone.
• Negative Sentiment: Proposed U.K. App Store rules could loosen Apple’s control over in-app payments and reduce commission revenue; Apple argues the measures amount to price regulation. Apple says UK App Store proposal amounts to price regulation
• Negative Sentiment: A federal lawsuit alleges a fraudulent Bitcoin wallet app remained available in Apple’s App Store, raising potential legal costs and renewed concerns about app-review and platform liability.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.6%

AAPL opened at $338.19 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.50 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $308.94 and its 200 day moving average is $280.73.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.