Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV

Key Points

• Townsend Asset Management trimmed its Apple stake by 9.3% in Q4, selling 2,854 shares and ending the period with 27,855 shares worth about $7.57M, making Apple ~2.7% of its portfolio and its 10th-largest holding.
• Insider sales: SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 30,002 shares for ~$7.66M and CEO Tim Cook sold 64,949 shares for ~$16.51M on April 2, both transactions executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and slightly reducing their ownership.
• Analyst/earnings outlook: Apple has a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $303.06 target, and it recently beat Q results—$2.84 EPS vs. $2.67 expected and $143.76B revenue vs. $138.25B expected.

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,855 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,854 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.7% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings in Apple were worth $7,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 40,543 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $303.06.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $271.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $260.03 and its 200-day moving average is $264.67. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.25 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.15%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong product demand: Apple’s $599 M4 Mac mini has sold out online amid an AI-driven upswing in mac‑mini interest, signalling healthy hardware demand ahead of upcoming results. Good luck getting a Mac Mini anytime soon
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism around new CEO: John Ternus was named CEO effective September 1; several pieces highlight why investors should be encouraged (hardware pedigree, potential renewed product focus). That optimism supports a constructive view on future device cycles. 2 Reasons Investors Should Be Excited for the New Apple CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and market support ahead of earnings: Firms including Wedbush and others have reiterated favorable views or buying interest into the earnings cadence and iPhone cycle, lending some near‑term support. Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform for Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO succession — expectations and risks: Coverage (FT, NYT, Motley Fool) lays out the transition details and the main tasks for John Ternus; this is a material change but many view it as orderly for now. The Apple juggernaut and the AI roadblock
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data is noisy/unclear this month (reported values are effectively zero/invalid), so it provides little actionable signal today.
• Negative Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway selling: Reports show Warren Buffett’s group cut a large portion (~75%) of its Apple stake and redeployed funds into Chubb — a headline catalyst for today’s selling and a signal that a major, long‑held holder is trimming exposure. Warren Buffett Quietly Sold 75% of His Biggest Holding
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/AI execution risks: India’s antitrust probe of the App Store and persistent questions about Apple’s AI/Siri progress and executive departures raise execution and legal-risk concerns that could pressure multiple quarters. Indian Antitrust Push Tests Apple App Store Model

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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