Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Cut by Vision Capital Management Inc.

Vision Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 220,291 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,086 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 8.1% of Vision Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Vision Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $73,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. tru Independence LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 35,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,856,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.8% during the third quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 44,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 38,186 shares during the last quarter. Midway Capital Research & Management grew its holdings in Apple by 3.5% during the third quarter. Midway Capital Research & Management now owns 26,933 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,969,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altium Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,755,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.51.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $349.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $243.42 and a one year high of $354.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $334.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.58. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,832,236.98. This trade represents a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post-election relief helped lift major technology stocks, including Apple, as investors saw reduced near-term uncertainty. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reached a record high amid signs of renewed demand. Investors are also weighing the rollout of Apple Intelligence in China, which could help close a competitive gap in a major market. Invezz article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reducing employee budgets for AI tools as it seeks to manage expenses, while reported research costs have climbed 32%. Cost control may help, but the spending trend underscores the expense of competing in AI. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory prices remain a key risk to profitability: Apple expects higher component costs to pressure holiday-quarter gross margins, and its manufacturing purchase commitments have increased. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margin concerns persist despite the rally; DZ Bank downgraded Apple to sell, citing a $300 price target. MarketBeat ratings

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.