Apple Inc. $AAPL is Wealth Quarterback LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Wealth Quarterback LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,315 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.1% of Wealth Quarterback LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Wealth Quarterback LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 890.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after buying an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone Duo creates a potential new growth cycle. Apple’s $1,999 foldable iPhone, scheduled to arrive October 23, could drive upgrades, deepen ecosystem engagement and add a high-margin premium product category. Some analysts believe foldables could eventually account for 10% to 20% of iPhone revenue. How Wall Street viewed Apple’s foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see renewed hardware momentum. Alongside the Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watch models, AirPods 5 and expanded Siri AI features. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target, supporting the bullish reaction. TD Cowen reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Carrier promotions could reduce sticker-price resistance. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are offering installment and trade-in incentives for the expensive Duo, potentially broadening access without an immediate industrywide price war. Wireless carrier promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided. Bank of America retained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $370, while Rosenblatt kept a Neutral rating and $303 target. The debate centers on Duo demand, supply constraints, valuation and the durability of the upgrade cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure remains the main risk. Apple raised iPhone Pro prices by $100, but memory and other component costs are rising rapidly. Management has already guided to lower gross margins, raising concerns that pricing may not fully offset higher costs. Apple margin pressure from memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and competition limit upside. Apple trades near the upper end of its historical earnings multiple, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung remain strong competitors in China and the foldable market.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a modest cautionary signal. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold approximately $456,000 of stock, reducing her direct holdings by about 4%, although she retains a substantial position.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Finally, China Renaissance downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $334.91.

Apple Trading Up 1.7%

AAPL opened at $332.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $318.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.45. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.02 and a 12 month high of $344.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,345,787.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,310 shares of company stock worth $2,279,378. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company’s ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.