Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp. reduced its Apple position by 2.8% in the third quarter, selling 5,500 shares and retaining 191,215 shares valued at approximately $63.7 million. Apple remains the fund’s seventh-largest holding, representing about 2.1% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own approximately 67.73% of Apple’s outstanding shares, while insiders sold 286,853 shares worth $95.5 million over the past three months, primarily to cover tax obligations from vested equity awards.
• Wall Street’s consensus view remains “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $340.59, though analyst opinions range from bullish to underweight. Apple shares trade near $343.83 at roughly 39.4 times earnings, as investors await evidence that iPhone demand, services growth and AI initiatives justify the premium valuation.

First Merchants Corp lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,215 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,500 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of First Merchants Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $63,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV increased its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 1,912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Evansbrook LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. JMG Financial Group Ltd. increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Forward LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Forward LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,438,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple unveiled its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, featuring tandem OLED technology, up to 2,000-nit brightness, 120Hz refresh rates, and higher-end M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The launch could support Mac revenue, premium pricing and a broader hardware upgrade cycle. Apple Stock: Slip Despite MacBook Pro Launch With Tandem OLED Display
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains a modest tailwind. Monness, Crespi, Hardt raised its Apple price target to $355, while early iPhone 18 Pro sales were reportedly 3.1% above the prior model, including particularly strong growth in China. Wall Street Analyst Updates Apple Stock Target Ahead of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is approaching its November 2 earnings report after a lengthy run of earnings beats. Investors are looking for evidence that iPhone demand, services growth and artificial-intelligence initiatives can justify a valuation near 40 times earnings. Seeking Clues to Apple Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: The touchscreen MacBook Pro starts at approximately $2,899, raising concerns that premium pricing could limit adoption. Investors also face broader pressure from rising memory costs, expensive technology valuations and potentially higher interest rates. Apple's Touchscreen MacBook Pro Pushes Laptop Pricing Higher
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is offering replacements after reports that screens on its $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo cracked near the hinge. The issue threatens customer confidence and could increase warranty or recall costs just as the company launches a major new product category. Apple Shows First Touchscreen Laptops Amid Product Blitz
• Negative Sentiment: South Korea fined Apple and Google a combined $47.6 million for allegedly forcing developers toward their payment systems and delaying app reviews, adding to regulatory risks around Apple’s services business. South Korea Fines Google and Apple Over App Market Practices

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 46,389 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total transaction of $442,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,224,675.20. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 286,853 shares of company stock valued at $95,477,342 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. China Renaissance downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.59.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $343.83 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.42 and a twelve month high of $351.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion for 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 revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Apple

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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