Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its Apple stake by 1.3% in Q4, selling 207,205 shares; Apple remains Aberdeen’s largest holding at about 6.8% of the portfolio, valued at roughly $4.39 billion.
• Insider sales: SVP Deirdre O’Brien sold 30,002 shares (~$7.66M) and CEO Tim Cook sold 64,949 shares (~$16.51M) on April 2 under pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans, modestly reducing their holdings.
• Fundamentals and analyst view: Apple beat Q results (EPS $2.84 vs. $2.67 est.; revenue $143.76B vs. $138.25B) and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $301.37 while some firms (e.g., BofA) have raised price targets to $325.

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,161,971 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 207,205 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.8% of Aberdeen Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.11% of Apple worth $4,393,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 grew 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 buying an additional 39 shares during the period. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Capstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,537 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and price-target upgrades lift the outlook for future earnings and sentiment — Bank of America raised its Apple price target, signaling conviction among some sell‑side desks that Apple’s long-term cash-flow profile remains attractive. Bank of America Increases Apple Price Target to $325
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp recently raised Q2/Q4 and FY2027 EPS forecasts for Apple, which supports near‑term earnings expectations and offsets valuation concerns. (Research-note summary)
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary from TV/influencers (Jim Cramer) is reinforcing investor confidence and likely contributed to buying interest in options and shares. Jim Cramer Reveals Why Apple (AAPL) Stock is Worth it
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is pushing Siri teams to adopt AI coding tools and is clearly ramping internal AI development efforts — positive for product roadmap but timing and revenue impact remain uncertain. Apple Pushes Siri Programmers to Adopt AI Coding Tools
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call‑option activity shows elevated bullish positioning, which can amplify moves both up and down; this is a market‑sentiment signal rather than a change in fundamentals. (Options volume report)
• Negative Sentiment: TSMC’s blowout results (record margins and profits driven by AI chip demand) were interpreted negatively for Apple today — investors see TSMC less dependent on Apple and view stronger AI-centric capex at chipmakers as a reminder that competition and supply dynamics are shifting in ways that could pressure margins or bargaining leverage. TSMC’s Results Weren’t a Great Sign for Apple
• Negative Sentiment: New litigation alleging Apple Pay failed to prevent rapid gambling transactions introduces legal and compliance risk for Apple’s payment services, which could pressure services valuation if exposures grow. Apple Lawsuit Puts Apple Pay Controls And Services Valuation In Focus

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $301.37.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $263.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $189.81 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $259.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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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