Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Key Points

• Capital Investment Counsel Inc trimmed its Apple stake by 1.7% in Q4, selling 10,017 shares and now holding 577,778 shares—about 18.5% of its portfolio worth $157,075,000.
• Apple beat Q2 expectations (EPS $2.01 vs. $1.95; revenue $111.18B, +16.6% YoY) and boosted shareholder returns with a quarterly dividend increase to $0.27 and a $100B share buyback program.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently: SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 30,002 shares and CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares, with insiders offloading 96,485 shares over the past 90 days.

Capital Investment Counsel Inc reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 577,778 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,017 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 18.5% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $157,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $280.19 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.25 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat and June-quarter guidance well above Street expectations, giving investors confidence in near-term sales momentum and margins. Apple stages sharpest rally in 9 months as execs cite iPhone, Mac demand in boosting guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management expanded capital returns — a large share buyback ($100B) plus a dividend raise — which supports EPS and buyback-driven upside. Apple (AAPL) Stock: Q2 Earnings Beat ... and $100B Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger-than-expected demand in Greater China and for the iPhone 17 and Mac lineup (including Mac Mini demand for AI work) is driving top-line upside and a re-rating by some analysts. Apple's China sales jumped 28%: now analysts are rethinking AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets and options activity surged, signaling bullish positioning and expectations for further upside. Analyst moves & options flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple signaled it is retiring its net-cash-neutral target — investors interpret this as freeing cash for a potential large AI acquisition, but timing and impact remain speculative. Apple just gave a subtle clue that a splashy AI acquisition may be in the cards
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/services expansion — Apple aims to grow its sports/TV footprint (Formula One content and TV deals), which supports longer-term services revenue diversification but is incremental near term. Apple's Cue expects F1 movie sequel...
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned that the global memory-chip shortage is worsening — that creates a real near-term cost/margin headwind and could force pricing or longer-term supplier commitments. Apple Warns the Memory Shortage Is Getting Worse
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious — Wall Street is split on whether the beat is sustainable versus one-time effects (tariff refunds, inventory/timing), leaving valuation and durability questions. Wall Street Splits on Apple After Q2 Beat

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $304.31.

Apple Company 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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