Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Key Points

• Prudential PLC trimmed its Apple stake by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 17,623 shares. The firm still held 1,465,579 shares worth about $398.4 million, making Apple its fourth-largest position.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.01 beating estimates and revenue of $111.18 billion also topping forecasts. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 8.74.
• The stock remains closely watched amid AI-related optimism and caution. Analysts have raised price targets after WWDC, but investors are still weighing whether Apple’s new AI features can drive a meaningful upgrade cycle and monetization.

Prudential PLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,465,579 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 17,623 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Prudential PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Prudential PLC's holdings in Apple were worth $398,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $291.58 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.07 and a 52-week high of $317.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $284.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and TD Cowen raised their price targets on Apple after WWDC, signaling confidence that the AI rollout could support longer-term upside. Morgan Stanley revamps Apple stock target after key event
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say Apple’s new AI features may help spark a bigger iPhone upgrade cycle and strengthen Services revenue over time. Apple’s AI could usher in a historic upgrade cycle that investors are overlooking
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple introduced a more capable Siri and platform-wide AI upgrades at WWDC, which could matter for future device demand, but investors are still waiting for proof of monetization. WWDC 2026: Everything announced on Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence and more
• Negative Sentiment: The stock fell after WWDC because the AI reveal did not deliver the immediate breakthrough many investors expected, and the rollout looks gradual rather than explosive. Why Apple (AAPL) Shares Are Sliding Today
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts warned that older iPhones may not be able to run the new AI features well, limiting the addressable installed base and near-term upside. Apple's AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.59.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.