Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Lowered by Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Brown Miller Wealth Management cut its Apple stake by 1.9% in Q4 to 110,025 shares (worth $29,911,000), with Apple making up 8.3% of the fund’s holdings as its second-largest position.
• Apple beat Q2 expectations (EPS $2.01; revenue $111.18B) and announced a $100B share buyback plus a dividend raise, prompting analyst upgrades and a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $304.31.
• Insider selling continued, including CEO Tim Cook's sale of 64,949 shares and the CFO's sale of 1,534 shares, with insiders selling 96,485 shares (~$24.6M) over the last quarter while owning 0.06% of the stock.

Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,025 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,184 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 8.3% of Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $29,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northland Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $3,448,000. Destiny Capital Corp CO boosted its position in Apple by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Destiny Capital Corp CO now owns 1,054 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Aua Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Aua Capital Management LLC now owns 36,713 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $9,981,000 after purchasing an additional 18,228 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in Apple by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 40,073 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 24,440 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $304.31.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat and June-quarter guidance well above Street expectations, giving investors confidence in near-term sales momentum and margins. Apple stages sharpest rally in 9 months as execs cite iPhone, Mac demand in boosting guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management expanded capital returns — a large share buyback ($100B) plus a dividend raise — which supports EPS and buyback-driven upside. Apple (AAPL) Stock: Q2 Earnings Beat ... and $100B Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger-than-expected demand in Greater China and for the iPhone 17 and Mac lineup (including Mac Mini demand for AI work) is driving top-line upside and a re-rating by some analysts. Apple's China sales jumped 28%: now analysts are rethinking AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets and options activity surged, signaling bullish positioning and expectations for further upside. Analyst moves & options flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple signaled it is retiring its net-cash-neutral target — investors interpret this as freeing cash for a potential large AI acquisition, but timing and impact remain speculative. Apple just gave a subtle clue that a splashy AI acquisition may be in the cards
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/services expansion — Apple aims to grow its sports/TV footprint (Formula One content and TV deals), which supports longer-term services revenue diversification but is incremental near term. Apple's Cue expects F1 movie sequel...
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned that the global memory-chip shortage is worsening — that creates a real near-term cost/margin headwind and could force pricing or longer-term supplier commitments. Apple Warns the Memory Shortage Is Getting Worse
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious — Wall Street is split on whether the beat is sustainable versus one-time effects (tariff refunds, inventory/timing), leaving valuation and durability questions. Wall Street Splits on Apple After Q2 Beat

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $280.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $260.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.25 and a 1-year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Apple Profile

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.

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