Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Sold by West Branch Capital LLC

West Branch Capital LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,796 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 11.0% of West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $48,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 12.9% in the third quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone National Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of Apple by 49.3% in the third quarter. Cornerstone National Bank & Trust Co now owns 15,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,227,000 after acquiring an additional 5,228 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 27,788 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,347 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dagco Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 51,542 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,165,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

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 subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $360.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research started coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.74.

Apple Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $344.17 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $335.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.03. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.42 and a 52-week high of $355.38. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total value of $442,112.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,224,675.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 291,651 shares of company stock valued at $97,082,537. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.