Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Lowered by Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,262 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,934 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.4% of Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Overbrook Management Corp grew its stake in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management grew its stake in Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,178,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,246,305 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $572,168,000 after buying an additional 116,960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators say Apple’s new Siri AI, stronger AI integration across iOS/macOS, and continued iPhone growth could support a longer-term upgrade cycle and services expansion. AI Integration and iPhone Growth Assert Apple Inc. (AAPL) as One of the Best Forever Stocks to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its earnings estimates for Apple, signaling confidence in profit growth over the next two fiscal years.
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors see Apple as a durable large-cap holding with strong cash flow, margins, and a favorable balance sheet, which may help limit downside. Does Apple Stock Have More Upside?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports said the WWDC AI reveal was solid but not a major surprise, which may explain why the market’s reaction has been muted. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here’s Why It’s Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage noted that Siri’s upgrades are promising, but questions remain about whether they are enough to reaccelerate the stock near term. Siri upgrades show promise, but questions remain
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer and other commentators described Apple as one of the cleanest big-cap stories, but also suggested the broader market is cautious around the AI rollout timing. Apple’s AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts argue Apple’s AI announcement may not be enough to lift the stock because the monetization timeline is still unclear. Apple Just Introduced Next-Generation Siri AI at WWDC. Why That Might Not Be Enough to Give AAPL Stock a Boost.
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage from investors and traders suggests the market is still skeptical that Siri AI will materially change Apple’s competitive position versus rivals like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic in the near term. Apple Just Delivered Bad News for OpenAI and Anthropic, but Alphabet Could Be a Winner

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was 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 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $295.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $284.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.14. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.07 and a 52-week high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.