Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by GR Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• GR Financial Group LLC cut its Apple stake by 30.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,922 shares and leaving it with 13,758 shares worth about $3.74 million.
• Apple also saw notable insider selling, including SVP Deirdre O'Brien and insider Ben Borders; insiders sold 97,759 shares worth $24.96 million over the last 90 days.
• Despite the selling, Apple reported strong quarterly results with $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, beating analyst expectations, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and average price target of $312.82.

GR Financial Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,758 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,922 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.8% of GR Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. GR Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $311.24 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.07 and a 52-week high of $316.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.63, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $280.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking for WWDC to showcase a major Siri overhaul and new AI features, which could help justify a higher valuation if Apple demonstrates stronger product momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s App Store generated more than $1.4 trillion in developer sales and billings last year, reinforcing the scale and stickiness of its Services ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Apple’s AI roadmap and ecosystem strength, with several price-target hikes and Buy calls suggesting upside if the company executes at WWDC. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple approved Poke as the first AI agent on its Messages for Business platform, showing early AI adoption inside its messaging ecosystem, but the near-term financial impact appears limited. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple may use Google cloud servers and Nvidia chips to help power Siri signal a faster AI rollout, though they also highlight Apple’s reliance on outside infrastructure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: UBS warned that App Store growth is decelerating, which matters because App Store revenue is a key driver of Apple’s high-margin Services segment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple agreed to submit India financials in a long-running antitrust case, keeping regulatory risk in focus as authorities move closer to a penalty decision. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $312.82.

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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