Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Cottage Street Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Cottage Street Advisors reduced its Apple stake by 4.5% in the third quarter, selling 1,753 shares and retaining 37,406 shares valued at approximately $12.46 million. Apple remains the fund’s fourth-largest holding and represents about 4.4% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.49.
• Apple insiders sold roughly 289,252 shares worth $96.3 million over the past three months, primarily to cover tax obligations on vested equity awards. Shares trade near their 12-month high at about 39.5 times earnings, leaving limited room for an earnings or guidance disappointment.

Cottage Street Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,406 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,753 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.4% of Cottage Street Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cottage Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $12,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avenir Tech Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Ironwood Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $30,000. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $376,168,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. CICC Research increased their target price on Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple acquired Ascension Labs, which operates as Ascend.io, gaining access to agentic artificial-intelligence talent and intellectual property. The deal supports Apple’s effort to strengthen its AI capabilities, although financial terms were not disclosed. Apple Acquires AI Firm Ascend.io Talent and Patents
• Positive Sentiment: Demand indicators remain supportive: the foldable iPhone Duo reportedly sold out quickly, orders are backed up, and Apple is positioned to benefit from strong iPhone, Mac and Services demand. Analysts including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs remain constructive, with BofA reiterating a Buy rating and a $370 price target. Analyst Reiterates Buy on Apple
• Positive Sentiment: The first touchscreen MacBook Pro, equipped with OLED displays and M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, expands Apple’s premium hardware lineup and could support a new product-cycle catalyst. Apple Shows First Touchscreen Laptops
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s earnings report is the immediate focus. Investors will look for evidence that revenue growth, Services momentum and AI investments can offset rising component costs and potentially slower holiday growth. Options activity suggests substantial volatility around the release. Apple November 2 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: AI-related demand has sharply increased flash-memory prices, raising concerns that Apple’s gross margin will come under pressure. Qualcomm also indicated that Apple-related revenue is declining faster than previously expected, reinforcing concerns about the pace of future iPhone growth. AI Has Made Flash Memory More Expensive
• Negative Sentiment: At roughly 40 times earnings and near its yearly high, Apple has limited room for an earnings or guidance disappointment. A senior vice president’s repeated stock sales and a South Korean fine related to app-market practices add modest additional caution. Apple Insider Selling

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $344.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $333.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.38. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.42 and a 12-month high of $351.73. The company has a market capitalization of $5.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells 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 applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.

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