48,753 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Bought by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 48,753 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $14,107,000. Apple accounts for about 1.4% of State of Wyoming's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.23, for a total transaction of $456,176.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 34,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,897,484.96. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,310 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,378 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $332.27 on Monday. 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 simple moving average is $318.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.63. The company has a market cap of $4.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $229.02 and a 52-week high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. KGI Securities lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $334.91.

Apple Profile

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.

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