Lavelle Capital LP Takes Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lavelle Capital LP purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,046 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.0% of Lavelle Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $285.56 to $263.66 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.60.

Apple Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $305.93 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.78 and a 52 week high of $344.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $308.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.75, for a total value of $442,852.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,342,929.25. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly training a China-specific large language model with Alibaba’s support. The initiative could bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese users, improve Apple’s competitive position against Huawei and reduce reliance on third-party AI models in a key market. Apple trains China-specific AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Apple opened an advanced manufacturing center in Houston that will support AI-server production, Mac mini assembly and workforce training. The facility reinforces Apple’s U.S. investment plans and may improve supply-chain resilience and relations with policymakers. Apple opens Houston manufacturing facility
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly received about $2.2 billion in tariff refunds. The cash recovery could offset some trade-related expenses and support near-term earnings and cash flow. Apple tariff refund report
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is discussing usage-based content agreements with publishers to improve the upgraded Siri’s access to current information. A stronger Siri could help narrow Apple’s perceived AI gap and support future services growth. Apple publisher talks for Siri
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple proposed a 15% commission on purchases made through external links in iOS apps amid its continuing legal dispute with Epic. The proposal could preserve some App Store revenue, but the final regulatory and legal outcome remains uncertain. Apple proposes external purchase commission
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s valuation remains demanding, with a market capitalization near $4.5 trillion and a forward earnings outlook that leaves the stock sensitive to execution. An insider sale by SVP Jennifer Newstead was disclosed, though such transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in corporate fundamentals. Apple insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple, citing concerns about the canceled or delayed all-glass iPhone concept, limited near-term AI momentum and rising memory-chip costs. Higher component prices could pressure margins and make it harder for Apple to justify its premium valuation. Jefferies Apple downgrade and iPhone concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s Pixel 11 is placing Gemini more deeply into the smartphone experience, raising the competitive stakes for Apple ahead of the iPhone 18 launch and Siri’s broader overhaul.

About Apple

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.