Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Cut by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,532 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 13,844 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.2% of Guardian Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Guardian Partners Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $24,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at $11,345,787.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 5,872 shares of company stock valued at $1,823,201 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Sept. 9 product event is generating significant interest under new CEO John Ternus, with expectations for new iPhones, an Apple Watch update and potentially the company’s first foldable iPhone. Citi estimates the foldable device could sell 7.3 million units despite a possible price above $2,000. Citi foldable iPhone sales forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter showed strong momentum, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year and earnings exceeding analyst expectations. Morgan Stanley has also suggested the foldable iPhone could contribute roughly $14 billion in December-quarter revenue if successfully launched. Morgan Stanley foldable iPhone estimate
• Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has succeeded Tim Cook as CEO, while Cook remains executive chairman. The transition offers continuity through a longtime Apple executive but raises questions about whether Ternus can accelerate Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy and sustain Cook-era growth. John Ternus becomes Apple CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate initial foldable iPhone production was only a few hundred units per day in late August. Tight quality controls and memory shortages could limit launch supply, delay purchases and prevent Apple from fully capturing expected demand. Foldable iPhone production hurdles
• Negative Sentiment: Memory costs have reportedly surged, potentially forcing Apple to raise iPhone prices, absorb lower margins or risk weaker demand. Jefferies has also downgraded AAPL amid skepticism about the foldable product’s market potential. iPhone memory cost concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over alleged unfair app-tracking rules and a separate BASF patent lawsuit involving facial-authentication technology, adding regulatory and litigation risk. Apple UK app-tracking lawsuit

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $319.97 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $315.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $285.56 to $263.66 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. KGI Securities cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. HSBC raised Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.61.

Apple Company 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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