Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 336,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,089 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.0% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Apple were worth $85,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.43.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy and raised its price target to $366 from $260, saying the company is at an operational turning point with AI features and hardware momentum supporting growth. HSBC upgrades Apple to Buy, sees “strong cycle ahead”
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, and Apple will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model in its China rollout, a key step that could expand Apple’s AI adoption in one of its most important markets. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple briefly overtook Nvidia in market value, reinforcing the view that investors are rotating toward Apple’s consumer execution and away from some AI-heavy names. Apple closes in on Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries highlighted Apple’s cash generation, shareholder returns, and robotics/innovation efforts, supporting the bullish “cash flow machine” and diversification narrative. Apple’s Core Business Cash Flow Machine Will Support Innovation and Diversification

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $333.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $303.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $334.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Apple 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.