Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Baldwin Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Baldwin Investment Management LLC trimmed its Apple stake by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,536 shares and leaving it with 69,950 shares valued at about $19.0 million.
• Apple continues to attract major institutional support, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, Geode, Morgan Stanley, and Norges Bank all holding or adding large positions; institutions and hedge funds collectively own 67.73% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Apple, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.59, while the company also recently posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its dividend.

Baldwin Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,950 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,536 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Baldwin Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Baldwin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $19,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $317.40. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $285.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What's the Path Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here's Why It's Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple's AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.

Apple 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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