Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lowered by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 975,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 20,301 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.9% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $247,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is accelerating software security updates to respond faster to AI-driven hacking threats, which could reassure users and enterprises that the company is proactively protecting its ecosystem. Reuters: Apple says it is releasing updates early in response to AI cybersecurity concerns
• Positive Sentiment: Counterpoint-related reports suggest Apple could reach record market share in smartphones, laptops, and tablets in 2026, reinforcing the company’s competitive position and long-term device demand. Seeking Alpha: Apple to hit record market share in smartphones, laptops, tablets in 2026: Counterpoint
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts argue Apple’s recent price increases may not hurt earnings as much as feared because of the company’s pricing power and loyal customer base. TipRanks: Apple Raising Device Prices May Not Hurt Earnings as Much as Investors Fear
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple wants approval to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT highlight efforts to secure supply, but also underscore how the AI-driven memory crunch is pressuring margins and creating geopolitical risk. Invezz: Apple wants to buy memory chips from CXMT
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is facing intensified scrutiny over recent price hikes, with multiple reports warning that higher component costs could slow revenue growth and pressure consumer demand. Barchart: Price Hikes Could Create a Major Problem for AAPL Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s dispute with India’s antitrust regulator adds legal uncertainty, with the company accusing the watchdog of copying rivals’ claims and potentially raising the risk of tougher App Store remedies. Reuters: Apple iPhone 18 Pro supplier list… exposed in Tata data leak
• Negative Sentiment: A Reuters report that iPhone 18 Pro supplier and component details were exposed in a Tata Electronics data leak adds another supply-chain and product-secrecy concern for Apple. Yahoo Finance video: Apple says India ‘copy-pasted’ rivals’ claims in antitrust probe

Apple Stock Down 0.7%

AAPL stock opened at $281.74 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.26 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $292.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.