Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Albion Financial Group UT

Key Points

• Albion Financial Group UT increased its Apple stake by 0.7% in the third quarter, adding 2,175 shares to hold 331,866 shares valued at about $110.5 million.
• Apple beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $2.10 per share and revenue of $114.48 billion; revenue rose 11.7% year over year.
• Despite strong results and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, rising memory-chip costs and supply constraints could pressure margins in the holiday quarter.

Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 331,866 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.2% of Albion Financial Group UT's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Albion Financial Group UT's holdings in Apple were worth $110,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $182,897,769,000 after purchasing an additional 28,321,085 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Apple by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after buying an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.75, for a total value of $781,474.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,771,522.75. The trade was a 7.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total transaction of $480,309.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,539 shares in the company, valued at $6,051,831.95. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 291,651 shares of company stock valued at $97,082,537 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $342.37 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.42 and a 1-year high of $355.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $4.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $336.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.50.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.04%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, with solid iPhone and Mac demand. Apple also says more apps optimized for its new foldable iPhone are coming, potentially improving the product’s appeal. Apple earnings beat
• Positive Sentiment: Apple has held up better than many chipmakers amid the AI-stock sell-off, and Bernstein raised its price target to $380 while maintaining a Buy rating. This relative strength may support investor sentiment. Apple holds up amid market weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly seeking about $7.5 billion through a bond offering. The financing provides flexibility, though the reports do not specify its use. The company is also limiting some employees’ AI-tool budgets, a move that could help control costs but raises questions about its internal AI investment. Apple bond sale report
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned of unprecedented memory-chip costs and supply constraints heading into the holiday quarter, putting gross margins at risk despite healthy demand. Investors are also weighing slower Services growth and Apple’s premium valuation. Memory costs and supply constraints

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, China Renaissance cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $329.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $343.74.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS.

The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple's devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world.

Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.

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