Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock: Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,785,878 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 66,482 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.6% of Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,260,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harfst & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the third quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 35,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,674,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Oath Planning LLC lifted its position in Apple by 50.3% during the third quarter. Oath Planning LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Sentinel Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 4.1% during the third quarter. Sentinel Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Redstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.0% during the third quarter. Redstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, with solid iPhone and Mac demand. Apple also says more apps optimized for its new foldable iPhone are coming, potentially improving the product’s appeal. Apple earnings beat
• Positive Sentiment: Apple has held up better than many chipmakers amid the AI-stock sell-off, and Bernstein raised its price target to $380 while maintaining a Buy rating. This relative strength may support investor sentiment. Apple holds up amid market weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly seeking about $7.5 billion through a bond offering. The financing provides flexibility, though the reports do not specify its use. The company is also limiting some employees’ AI-tool budgets, a move that could help control costs but raises questions about its internal AI investment. Apple bond sale report
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned of unprecedented memory-chip costs and supply constraints heading into the holiday quarter, putting gross margins at risk despite healthy demand. Investors are also weighing slower Services growth and Apple’s premium valuation. Memory costs and supply constraints

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.74.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $342.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 44,660,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,928,536. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.42 and a twelve month high of $355.38.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 128.88% and a net margin of 27.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.04%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total value of $442,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,224,675.20. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 291,651 shares of company stock worth $97,082,537 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS.

The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple’s devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world.

Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.