Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by SouthState Bank Corp

Key Points

• SouthState Bank reduced its Apple stake by 1.5% in the first quarter, selling 6,574 shares and retaining 444,876 shares worth approximately $112.9 million. Apple remains the bank’s largest holding, representing 5.3% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported quarterly revenue of $109.42 billion and EPS of $2.02, surpassing analyst expectations, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year. However, its outlook fell below consensus, with memory-cost pressures, weaker Services and China performance, and leadership-transition uncertainty weighing on sentiment.
• Wall Street’s consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $327.40. Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

SouthState Bank Corp cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 444,876 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,574 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.3% of SouthState Bank Corp's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. SouthState Bank Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $112,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. KGI Securities lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $364.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $327.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record June-quarter revenue of approximately $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, while diluted EPS of $2.02 rose 29% and exceeded Wall Street expectations. Strong iPhone and Mac sales drove the results. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: The company said its active installed base reached an all-time high, and iPhone, Mac and Services each posted June-quarter revenue records. Apple also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share. Apple Q3 revenue rises
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple indicated that a revamped Siri could eventually become a paid service for heavy users, offering a potential long-term monetization opportunity as the company expands its consumer-AI strategy. Tim Cook says Apple may charge for AI Siri
• Neutral Sentiment: Thursday marked Tim Cook’s final earnings call as CEO before he steps down in September, adding leadership-transition uncertainty despite incoming CEO John Ternus’s expected continuity.
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue outlook of $111.7 billion to $113.7 billion was below the roughly $114.3 billion consensus estimate. The cautious forecast is a key reason the stock has decreased despite the quarterly beat.
• Negative Sentiment: The generative-AI hardware boom is driving severe memory and component shortages. Apple is stockpiling inventory, but CEO Tim Cook warned that the impact of higher memory prices will worsen, pressuring product margins and potentially requiring further price increases. The quarter’s 50.1% gross margin benefited by about two percentage points from tariff refunds, a benefit that may not recur. Apple stockpiles inventory
• Negative Sentiment: Services revenue missed expectations, with Apple citing a slowdown in gaming and the effects of App Store changes. Weaker-than-expected China performance also raised concerns about regional demand and competition.
• Negative Sentiment: With Apple valued near $5 trillion and trading at roughly 40 times earnings, investors had set very high expectations. That premium leaves less room for disappointment in growth, margins or guidance. Apple forecasts slower growth

Apple Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $333.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $309.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.32, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.50 and a 52 week high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.06%.

Apple 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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