Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.

Key Points

• Steigerwald Gordon & Koch trimmed its Apple stake by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,092 shares; Apple still represents about 4.9% of the firm's portfolio and was its largest holding (~$51.3M).
• Several big institutions mostly increased exposure—Vanguard, State Street, Geode and Northern Trust added millions of shares and Norges Bank opened a new position (~$38.9B), leaving roughly 67.73% of Apple owned by institutions.
• Fundamentals and catalysts are supportive: Apple beat Q2 estimates and raised guidance, announced a $100B buyback and a dividend bump to $0.27 quarterly (0.4% yield), though supply issues and split analyst views pose risks.

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 188,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,092 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.9% of Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $51,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat and June-quarter guidance well above Street expectations, giving investors confidence in near-term sales momentum and margins. Apple stages sharpest rally in 9 months as execs cite iPhone, Mac demand in boosting guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management expanded capital returns — a large share buyback ($100B) plus a dividend raise — which supports EPS and buyback-driven upside. Apple (AAPL) Stock: Q2 Earnings Beat ... and $100B Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger-than-expected demand in Greater China and for the iPhone 17 and Mac lineup (including Mac Mini demand for AI work) is driving top-line upside and a re-rating by some analysts. Apple's China sales jumped 28%: now analysts are rethinking AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets and options activity surged, signaling bullish positioning and expectations for further upside. Analyst moves & options flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple signaled it is retiring its net-cash-neutral target — investors interpret this as freeing cash for a potential large AI acquisition, but timing and impact remain speculative. Apple just gave a subtle clue that a splashy AI acquisition may be in the cards
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/services expansion — Apple aims to grow its sports/TV footprint (Formula One content and TV deals), which supports longer-term services revenue diversification but is incremental near term. Apple's Cue expects F1 movie sequel...
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned that the global memory-chip shortage is worsening — that creates a real near-term cost/margin headwind and could force pricing or longer-term supplier commitments. Apple Warns the Memory Shortage Is Getting Worse
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious — Wall Street is split on whether the beat is sustainable versus one-time effects (tariff refunds, inventory/timing), leaving valuation and durability questions. Wall Street Splits on Apple After Q2 Beat

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $280.19 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $260.73 and its 200-day moving average is $265.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.25 and a twelve month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 161.46% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued 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 boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $304.31.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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