Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Longbow Finance SA

Longbow Finance SA raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,711 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,087 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.9% of Longbow Finance SA’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Longbow Finance SA’s holdings in Apple were worth $54,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. 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 Sept. 9 product event is generating significant interest under new CEO John Ternus, with expectations for new iPhones, an Apple Watch update and potentially the company’s first foldable iPhone. Citi estimates the foldable device could sell 7.3 million units despite a possible price above $2,000. Citi foldable iPhone sales forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter showed strong momentum, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year and earnings exceeding analyst expectations. Morgan Stanley has also suggested the foldable iPhone could contribute roughly $14 billion in December-quarter revenue if successfully launched. Morgan Stanley foldable iPhone estimate
• Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has succeeded Tim Cook as CEO, while Cook remains executive chairman. The transition offers continuity through a longtime Apple executive but raises questions about whether Ternus can accelerate Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy and sustain Cook-era growth. John Ternus becomes Apple CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate initial foldable iPhone production was only a few hundred units per day in late August. Tight quality controls and memory shortages could limit launch supply, delay purchases and prevent Apple from fully capturing expected demand. Foldable iPhone production hurdles
• Negative Sentiment: Memory costs have reportedly surged, potentially forcing Apple to raise iPhone prices, absorb lower margins or risk weaker demand. Jefferies has also downgraded AAPL amid skepticism about the foldable product’s market potential. iPhone memory cost concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over alleged unfair app-tracking rules and a separate BASF patent lawsuit involving facial-authentication technology, adding regulatory and litigation risk. Apple UK app-tracking lawsuit

Apple Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $319.97 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.95 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $315.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is 12.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $285.56 to $263.66 in a report on Monday, August 10th. 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. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total transaction of $456,177.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,872 shares of company stock worth $1,823,201 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.