Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lowered by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Key Points

• Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG cut its Apple stake by 1.5%, selling 7,730 shares in the third quarter. It still held 515,075 shares, worth about $171.5 million, making Apple its sixth-largest portfolio position.
• Apple beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $2.10 versus $1.99 forecast and revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment was broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $343.74 target price, though rising memory costs and supply constraints could pressure margins.

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 515,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,730 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.2% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings in Apple were worth $171,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,443,242,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,658,359,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $10,588,946,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. CICC Research boosted their price objective on Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Moffett Nathanson set a $283.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $343.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total transaction of $480,309.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,051,831.95. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.75, for a total value of $781,474.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,771,522.75. This trade represents a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 291,651 shares of company stock valued at $97,082,537. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $344.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company's 50-day moving average price is $335.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.03. The company has a market cap of $5.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $355.38.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue of $114.5 billion and solid iPhone and Mac demand. The results support the view that product demand remains healthy. Apple shares fell despite a double beat in Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its price target to $380 and kept a Buy rating, citing potential upside from Apple’s business prospects. Bernstein rating and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly seeking up to $7 billion through a bond offering. The borrowing adds financing flexibility, but the reports did not specify how proceeds would be used. Apple seeks about $7 billion from bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged memory-chip costs that could keep rising, along with supply constraints ahead of the December quarter. These pressures may weigh on margins even as demand remains strong. Supply constraints and rising memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also scrutinizing earnings quality: tariff refunds boosted reported profit metrics, making the underlying results less straightforward to assess. Investors revisit Apple earnings quality
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and valuation concerns add to the headwinds. DZ Bank cut Apple to Sell, while coverage also points to slower Services growth and a premium share valuation. DZ Bank downgrades Apple

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.

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.