61,415 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL Bought by Old North State Trust LLC

Key Points

• Old North State Trust LLC acquired 61,415 Apple shares worth approximately $17.8 million, making Apple its largest holding at 9.1% of the portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 67.73% of Apple.
• Apple exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $109.42 billion, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year. Shares opened at $338.40, near their 52-week high of $345.34.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.14; Apple also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, yielding approximately 0.3%.

Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 61,415 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $17,771,000. Apple makes up 9.1% of Old North State Trust LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $30,443,242,000. Nuveen LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $20,389,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Apple by 23.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.06, for a total transaction of $815,803.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 44,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,095,603.46. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 11,031 shares of company stock worth $3,535,759 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $338.40 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $243.42 and a one year high of $345.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Phillip Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.14.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s renewed patent agreement with Qualcomm helps preserve access to important cellular technology and reduces uncertainty surrounding future iPhone launches. The deal also supports Qualcomm’s royalty stream tied to Apple devices. What Is Going on With Qualcomm Stock on Monday?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is increasing orders for TSMC’s next-generation 2-nanometer chips point to continued investment in more powerful and efficient processors for future iPhones and other products. TSMC Ramps Up 2nm Chip Capacity as Apple, Nvidia Orders Jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo and premium-device strategy could lift revenue and expand its addressable market, but the roughly $2,000 price raises questions about demand beyond affluent early adopters. Apple’s Premium iPhone Strategy Faces a Test Beyond Early Adopters
• Neutral Sentiment: X Corp. and SpaceXAI reportedly moved to dismiss antitrust claims against Apple and OpenAI, removing one legal challenge, although other regulatory matters remain unresolved. Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI Drop Apple From AI Antitrust Fight
• Negative Sentiment: A U.S. jury ordered Apple to pay approximately $5.7 billion to Taction Technology for infringing patents covering haptic feedback used in products such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal, but the potential liability is the largest U.S. patent award of its kind. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal revived part of a consumer case alleging that Apple and Amazon restricted competition for Apple products sold through Amazon’s U.K. marketplace. Apple also faces an expanded Indian investigation into alleged costly repairs following an iOS 18 software update, increasing potential legal and reputational risk. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales

Apple Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets 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 software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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