Willis Investment Counsel Sells 22,999 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,286 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 22,999 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.3% of Willis Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Ballast Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 51,028 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,993,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Boyd Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 58.1% in the third quarter. Boyd Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785 shares in the last quarter. tru Independence LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 35,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,856,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the third quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 44,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 2,406,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $801,367,000 after acquiring an additional 38,186 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue of $114.5 billion and solid iPhone and Mac demand. The results support the view that product demand remains healthy. Apple shares fell despite a double beat in Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its price target to $380 and kept a Buy rating, citing potential upside from Apple’s business prospects. Bernstein rating and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly seeking up to $7 billion through a bond offering. The borrowing adds financing flexibility, but the reports did not specify how proceeds would be used. Apple seeks about $7 billion from bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged memory-chip costs that could keep rising, along with supply constraints ahead of the December quarter. These pressures may weigh on margins even as demand remains strong. Supply constraints and rising memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also scrutinizing earnings quality: tariff refunds boosted reported profit metrics, making the underlying results less straightforward to assess. Investors revisit Apple earnings quality
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and valuation concerns add to the headwinds. DZ Bank cut Apple to Sell, while coverage also points to slower Services growth and a premium share valuation. DZ Bank downgrades Apple

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities increased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $350.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.74.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $344.17 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.42 and a twelve month high of $355.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $335.46 and a 200-day moving average of $298.03. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.75, for a total transaction of $781,474.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,771,522.75. This trade represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 291,651 shares of company stock valued at $97,082,537 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.