Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Trimmed by CENTRAL TRUST Co

Key Points

• CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its Apple stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 27,690 shares but still holding 996,229 shares worth about $270.8 million. Apple remains its second-largest portfolio position.
• Apple reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $2.01 per share versus $1.95 expected and revenue of $111.18 billion, topping estimates and rising 16.6% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 from $0.26.
• Investor attention remains split between growth and risk: analysts are lifting price targets ahead of WWDC on hopes for Siri and AI upgrades, while concerns persist about weaker global smartphone demand and competitive pressure in hardware.

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 996,229 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 27,690 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.3% of CENTRAL TRUST Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Apple were worth $270,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly preparing an iPhone Wallet feature that could split bills from a receipt, assign items to different people, and generate payment requests through Apple Cash. That would strengthen Apple’s payments ecosystem and could help Wallet compete more directly with Venmo and Cash App. Apple Set to Accelerate Wallet War With Automated Bill Splitting
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been raising price targets ahead of WWDC, betting that Apple’s Siri and broader AI upgrades could be a catalyst for the shares if the company shows meaningful progress at its developer event. Apple (AAPL) Stock Gains Momentum as Analysts Boost Targets Before WWDC Siri Unveiling
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles framed Apple as an attractive AI-related stock, reflecting ongoing investor interest in Apple’s product cycle, services growth, and potential AI-driven refreshes. Apple Inc. (AAPL): One of the Promising Stocks to Buy According to AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple teased WWDC 2026 with a new “All Systems Glow” tagline and wallpapers, which points to an upcoming software announcement but does not by itself change fundamentals. All Systems Glow: Apple Teases WWDC 2026 With New Tagline, Playlist, Wallpapers
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly targeting a late-2027 launch for smart glasses, signaling a longer AI development timeline; that may support the long-term story, but it also suggests Apple’s next major wearable is still far away. Apple reportedly targeting 2027 launch for smart glasses amid AI refinement efforts
• Negative Sentiment: Apple fell on reports that the global smartphone market is nearing a record shipment decline, reinforcing worries about slower iPhone demand and a softer handset upgrade cycle. Apple Stock (AAPL) Falls as Global Smartphone Market Approaches Record Shipment Drop
• Negative Sentiment: Dell’s new XPS 13 laptop is drawing attention as a direct rival to Apple’s MacBook Neo, adding to competitive pressure in PCs and reminding investors that Apple faces rivals across multiple hardware categories. Dell Stock Extends Massive Rally on Morgan Stanley Upgrade, New Apple-Rivaling Laptop

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $335.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business'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 transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $306.31 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $276.58 and its 200-day moving average is $270.28. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $315.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

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.

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