Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.

Key Points

• Ayalon Insurance cut its Apple holdings by 50.8% in the third quarter, selling 19,299 shares and retaining 18,709 shares valued at approximately $6.23 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds still own 67.73% of Apple’s stock.
• Apple insiders sold 281,782 shares worth about $93.7 million during the latest quarter, including sales by CEO Tim Cook and SVP Deirdre O’Brien to cover tax obligations tied to vested equity awards.
• Apple shares traded near their 52-week high at $343.46, while analysts maintained a broadly positive outlook with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $340.39 price target. The company also reported quarterly revenue growth of 16.4% and earnings that exceeded expectations.

Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd. cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 50.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,709 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 19,299 shares during the quarter. Ayalon Insurance Comp Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. State Street Corp increased its position in Apple by 4.7% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Apple by 23.2% during 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 during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Timothy Cook sold 191,753 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total transaction of $63,846,078.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,264,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,837,377.28. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 46,389 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 281,782 shares of company stock worth $93,740,172 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s $1,999 iPhone Duo reportedly sold out within minutes of preorders opening, with delivery estimates pushed into 2027. The response suggests strong pricing power and could establish a significant new premium product category. Apple blames extraordinary demand as foldable iPhones sell out
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI said the iPhone Duo’s extended lead times support its Buy rating and $380 price target. Investors view the launch as a potential catalyst for higher average selling prices and iPhone revenue. Apple early iPhone demand supports Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Apple and Meta are collaborating to run Meta’s 816-billion-parameter Muse Spark Open AI model locally on high-end Macs. The partnership may strengthen Mac demand for AI workloads and improve Apple’s AI positioning without requiring a competing mega-scale model. Apple and Meta team up on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS cautioned that iPhone demand could weaken, highlighting the risk that strong initial foldable-phone interest may not translate into sustained volume. Apple’s roughly $5 trillion valuation also leaves the stock dependent on continued execution.
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators are preparing a legal fight that could require Apple to give competing payment providers access to technology behind Apple Pay’s tap-to-pay functionality. A forced opening could weaken the payments ecosystem and create compliance costs. Apple set for UK legal fight over tap-to-pay rules
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces ongoing concerns about lagging rivals in AI infrastructure and advanced assistants. Reports that some iPhone 18 Pro component orders were reduced add to questions about future handset demand.
• Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares worth approximately $828,000. The transaction is small relative to Apple’s size but represents another insider sale and may have modest signaling value.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. CICC Research raised their target price on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.39.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $343.46 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $348.15. 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 company has a market cap of $5.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $325.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. Apple's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

About Apple

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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