Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Newly Bought by Brasada Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Brasada Capital Management initiated a position in Apple during the second quarter, purchasing 18,399 shares valued at approximately $5.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of Apple’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Apple carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $340.14, despite some recent downgrades to “Hold.”
• Apple reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 16.4% year over year, but faces legal risks including a potential $5.7 billion patent award and revived competition-related litigation in the U.K.

Brasada Capital Management LP bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 18,399 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,324,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Evansbrook LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC now owns 7,847 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DZ Bank cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Arete Research boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.14.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s renewed patent agreement with Qualcomm helps preserve access to important cellular technology and reduces uncertainty surrounding future iPhone launches. The deal also supports Qualcomm’s royalty stream tied to Apple devices. What Is Going on With Qualcomm Stock on Monday?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is increasing orders for TSMC’s next-generation 2-nanometer chips point to continued investment in more powerful and efficient processors for future iPhones and other products. TSMC Ramps Up 2nm Chip Capacity as Apple, Nvidia Orders Jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo and premium-device strategy could lift revenue and expand its addressable market, but the roughly $2,000 price raises questions about demand beyond affluent early adopters. Apple’s Premium iPhone Strategy Faces a Test Beyond Early Adopters
• Neutral Sentiment: X Corp. and SpaceXAI reportedly moved to dismiss antitrust claims against Apple and OpenAI, removing one legal challenge, although other regulatory matters remain unresolved. Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI Drop Apple From AI Antitrust Fight
• Negative Sentiment: A U.S. jury ordered Apple to pay approximately $5.7 billion to Taction Technology for infringing patents covering haptic feedback used in products such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal, but the potential liability is the largest U.S. patent award of its kind. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal revived part of a consumer case alleging that Apple and Amazon restricted competition for Apple products sold through Amazon’s U.K. marketplace. Apple also faces an expanded Indian investigation into alleged costly repairs following an iOS 18 software update, increasing potential legal and reputational risk. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $338.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business's 50 day moving average price is $321.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.18. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $345.34. The company has a market cap of $4.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.06, for a total value of $815,803.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 44,391 shares in the company, valued at $15,095,603.46. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 11,031 shares of company stock worth $3,535,759 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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