Apple Inc. $AAPL is Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Hunter Associates Investment Management trimmed its Apple stake by 1.2% in Q1, but Apple still remains its second-largest holding, representing about 4.8% of the portfolio and valued at $36.4 million.
• Apple recently saw insider selling, including CFO Kevan Parekh’s sale of 1,534 shares and another sale by Ben Borders, though the article notes some of the latter was for tax withholding tied to equity awards.
• The company’s outlook remains mixed but generally positive: Apple beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, raised its dividend, and continues to get bullish analyst coverage, while also facing concerns about rising iPhone costs and scrutiny over China-related supply-chain plans.

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,501 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,748 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.8% of Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $36,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,902,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, clearing a major hurdle for Apple’s delayed AI rollout in its biggest international market. Reports also say Alibaba’s Qwen and Baidu models will help power the experience, which should support Apple’s AI adoption story. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentators say Apple is benefiting from a “standard oil” style strategy: keep monetizing a massive installed base through hardware, services, and selective ecosystem expansion rather than chasing capital-intensive AI infrastructure. That narrative is helping justify the stock’s record highs. Why Apple's 'Standard Oil' Strategy Is Driving the Stock to All-Time Highs
• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett reiterated that Apple remains one of Berkshire Hathaway’s favorite holdings, easing some investor concern about the planned CEO transition from Tim Cook. Warren Buffett Just Reaffirmed Apple as One of His Favorite Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp raised earnings estimates for Apple for several future periods, but kept an Underweight rating and a $250 price target, signaling improving fundamentals while still warning that valuation is rich. Apple Inc. research notes and analyst updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly exploring acquisitions of chip startups to strengthen its AI server and custom silicon efforts. That could help long-term competitiveness, but the impact is still speculative. Apple chasing AI chip company deals, The Information reports
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports say Apple’s iPhone manufacturing costs are rising because of higher component prices, and that could pressure margins if Apple can’t fully offset those costs with pricing or mix improvements. Apple's New iPhone Is Going to Cost Significantly More Than Last Year
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is also facing scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over its China memory-chip sourcing plans, adding a political and supply-chain overhang to the AI and hardware story. AAPL's China Memory Chip Plans Draw National Security Scrutiny

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $333.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $302.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.50 and a 52 week high of $334.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $318.43.

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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