Lavelle Capital LP Takes Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lavelle Capital LP purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,046 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000. Apple comprises approximately 1.0% of Lavelle Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $305.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.19. The company has a market cap of $4.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.78 and a twelve month high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.75, for a total value of $442,852.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,342,929.25. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Apple from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $364.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.60.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly training a China-specific large language model with Alibaba’s support. The initiative could bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese users, improve Apple’s competitive position against Huawei and reduce reliance on third-party AI models in a key market. Apple trains China-specific AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Apple opened an advanced manufacturing center in Houston that will support AI-server production, Mac mini assembly and workforce training. The facility reinforces Apple’s U.S. investment plans and may improve supply-chain resilience and relations with policymakers. Apple opens Houston manufacturing facility
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly received about $2.2 billion in tariff refunds. The cash recovery could offset some trade-related expenses and support near-term earnings and cash flow. Apple tariff refund report
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is discussing usage-based content agreements with publishers to improve the upgraded Siri’s access to current information. A stronger Siri could help narrow Apple’s perceived AI gap and support future services growth. Apple publisher talks for Siri
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple proposed a 15% commission on purchases made through external links in iOS apps amid its continuing legal dispute with Epic. The proposal could preserve some App Store revenue, but the final regulatory and legal outcome remains uncertain. Apple proposes external purchase commission
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s valuation remains demanding, with a market capitalization near $4.5 trillion and a forward earnings outlook that leaves the stock sensitive to execution. An insider sale by SVP Jennifer Newstead was disclosed, though such transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in corporate fundamentals. Apple insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple, citing concerns about the canceled or delayed all-glass iPhone concept, limited near-term AI momentum and rising memory-chip costs. Higher component prices could pressure margins and make it harder for Apple to justify its premium valuation. Jefferies Apple downgrade and iPhone concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s Pixel 11 is placing Gemini more deeply into the smartphone experience, raising the competitive stakes for Apple ahead of the iPhone 18 launch and Siri’s broader overhaul.

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.