Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Wealth Quarterback LLC

Wealth Quarterback LLC lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,315 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.1% of Wealth Quarterback LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Wealth Quarterback LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after buying an additional 37,746,784 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’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 transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.23, for a total value of $456,176.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 34,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,897,484.96. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,310 shares of company stock worth $2,279,378 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $303.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. KGI Securities lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $334.91.

Apple Stock Up 1.7%

AAPL stock opened at $332.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.02 and a 52 week high of $344.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone Duo creates a potential new growth cycle. Apple’s $1,999 foldable iPhone, scheduled to arrive October 23, could drive upgrades, deepen ecosystem engagement and add a high-margin premium product category. Some analysts believe foldables could eventually account for 10% to 20% of iPhone revenue. How Wall Street viewed Apple’s foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see renewed hardware momentum. Alongside the Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watch models, AirPods 5 and expanded Siri AI features. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target, supporting the bullish reaction. TD Cowen reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Carrier promotions could reduce sticker-price resistance. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are offering installment and trade-in incentives for the expensive Duo, potentially broadening access without an immediate industrywide price war. Wireless carrier promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided. Bank of America retained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $370, while Rosenblatt kept a Neutral rating and $303 target. The debate centers on Duo demand, supply constraints, valuation and the durability of the upgrade cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure remains the main risk. Apple raised iPhone Pro prices by $100, but memory and other component costs are rising rapidly. Management has already guided to lower gross margins, raising concerns that pricing may not fully offset higher costs. Apple margin pressure from memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and competition limit upside. Apple trades near the upper end of its historical earnings multiple, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung remain strong competitors in China and the foldable market.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a modest cautionary signal. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold approximately $456,000 of stock, reducing her direct holdings by about 4%, although she retains a substantial position.

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company’s ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.