Professional Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 87,398 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 88.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 186,613 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,398 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 7.3% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospect Hill Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $146,370,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $168,646,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $482,388,000. Satovsky Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $16,064,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $9,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo reportedly sold out within minutes of preorders opening, with delivery estimates pushed into 2027. The response suggests strong pricing power and could establish a significant new premium product category. Apple blames extraordinary demand as foldable iPhones sell out
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI said the iPhone Duo’s extended lead times support its Buy rating and $380 price target. Investors view the launch as a potential catalyst for higher average selling prices and iPhone revenue. Apple early iPhone demand supports Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Apple and Meta are collaborating to run Meta’s 816-billion-parameter Muse Spark Open AI model locally on high-end Macs. The partnership may strengthen Mac demand for AI workloads and improve Apple’s AI positioning without requiring a competing mega-scale model. Apple and Meta team up on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS cautioned that iPhone demand could weaken, highlighting the risk that strong initial foldable-phone interest may not translate into sustained volume. Apple’s roughly $5 trillion valuation also leaves the stock dependent on continued execution.
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators are preparing a legal fight that could require Apple to give competing payment providers access to technology behind Apple Pay’s tap-to-pay functionality. A forced opening could weaken the payments ecosystem and create compliance costs. Apple set for UK legal fight over tap-to-pay rules
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces ongoing concerns about lagging rivals in AI infrastructure and advanced assistants. Reports that some iPhone 18 Pro component orders were reduced add to questions about future handset demand.
• Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares worth approximately $828,000. The transaction is small relative to Apple’s size but represents another insider sale and may have modest signaling value.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Evercore set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $340.39.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $343.46 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $325.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $348.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. This represents a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 281,782 shares of company stock worth $93,740,172. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.