Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock: Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake

Key Points

• Blodgett Wealth Advisors cut its Apple stake by 7.9% in the third quarter, selling 4,478 shares and retaining 52,045 shares worth about $17.3 million. Apple remained 11.2% of its portfolio and its third-largest holding.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple shares, with several major firms adding or establishing positions, including State Street, Berkshire Hathaway and Bank of America.
• Apple beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $2.10 and revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $347.11.

Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,045 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,478 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 11.2% of Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $17,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Apple by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $182,897,769,000 after acquiring an additional 28,321,085 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $356.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $339.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $301.05. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.42 and a 12-month high of $360.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 12.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total value of $480,309.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,539 shares in the company, valued at $6,051,831.95. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total value of $442,112.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,224,675.20. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 292,611 shares of company stock worth $97,482,597. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Apple News

Investors following AAPL have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein cited Apple’s relatively defensive business as a safe haven amid an AI-sector selloff, helping attract investors as Nvidia weakness put pressure on technology stocks. Apple stock gains as Bernstein highlights safe-haven appeal
• Neutral Sentiment: HomeView is not launching in the EU because Siri AI is unavailable there, and early coverage has questioned Siri’s readiness. This could constrain the device’s initial reach and reception. HomeView launch coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a key risk: analysts have warned Apple trades at a premium, and views are divided, including a DZ Bank downgrade to Sell. A senior vice president also continued a pattern of scheduled share sales, a modest potential overhang. Apple valuation analysis

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 10th. China Renaissance upgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised Apple from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Guggenheim set a $400.00 target price on Apple in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Apple from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $347.11.

About Apple

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple's devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.

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