Apple Inc. $AAPL is Quilter Plc's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Quilter Plc trimmed its Apple stake by 4.6% in Q4, selling 57,842 shares to hold 1,201,257 shares worth $326,574,000 — about 5.5% of Quilter’s portfolio and Apple’s 4th-largest holding.
• Major institutions mostly added to Apple: Vanguard, State Street and Geode increased positions, Norges Bank opened a new ≈$38.94 billion position, and institutional investors now own roughly 67.73% of the company.
• Insider activity and outlook: CEO Tim Cook sold 64,949 shares (~$16.5M) and SVP Deirdre O’Brien sold 30,002 shares under 10b5‑1 plans, while analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $303.06 and view the April 30 earnings print as a potential market "clearing event."

Quilter Plc lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,201,257 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 57,842 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.5% of Quilter Plc's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Quilter Plc's holdings in Apple were worth $326,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broad tech appetite and upbeat corporate earnings are lifting market sentiment, helping AAPL rebound as the Nasdaq and S&P hit records. Nasdaq, S&P 500 Notch Peaks as Earnings Fuel Optimism
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts view Apple’s upcoming April 30 print as a possible “clearing event” that could reset narrative and drive the next leg higher if results and guidance beat — a reason some investors are buying into the leadership transition. Why April 30 Could Be a ‘Clearing Event’ for Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple officially named long‑time hardware chief John Ternus as CEO (Tim Cook to become executive chairman). The move signals continuity and a product/hardware focus but is arguably neutral near term as investors evaluate Ternus’s ability to accelerate AI strategy. Apple Newsroom: Tim Cook to Become Executive Chairman; John Ternus to Become CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple promoted Johny Srouji and consolidated hardware teams, underscoring a faster push on in‑house silicon — a structural positive for margins and product differentiation, but execution risk remains. Apple Promotes Chip Lead Srouji
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple pushed a security update fixing a message‑caching bug used by law enforcement — minor reputational/security positive but unlikely to move fundamentals. Apple fixes bug that cops used to extract deleted chat messages
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and data (Sensor Tower) flagged slowing Services growth and potential hardware bottlenecks; UBS has reiterated a Neutral rating and a $280 target — a reminder that Apple’s growth runway depends on resolving AI/services momentum and supply constraints. Is Slowing Services Growth and Hardware Bottleneck a Problem for Apple?
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual put option activity ahead of earnings suggests some investors are hedging or positioning for downside volatility into April 30 — elevated tails around the print increase short‑term risk. Apple Has Unusual Put Options Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Some funds have trimmed Apple exposure (recent active stake reductions reported), a small signal of profit‑taking or tactical repositioning after the run‑up. Manitou Investment Management Cuts Apple Stake

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $303.06.

Apple Stock Up 2.6%

AAPL stock opened at $273.17 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $259.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.40. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.25 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.15%.

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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