Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Lowered by Columbia Bank

Key Points

• Columbia Bank cut its Apple stake by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,848 shares and leaving it with 58,791 shares valued at about $15.98 million. Apple remains a major holding, making up 4.4% of the bank’s portfolio.
• Insider selling continued at Apple, with SVP Deirdre O’Brien and CFO Kevan Parekh both selling shares in recent months. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,759 shares worth nearly $25 million.
• Apple’s fundamentals and analyst sentiment remain largely positive, as the company topped quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, raised its dividend, and maintains a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with a $314.59 price target. At the same time, some investors remain cautious about whether Apple’s AI updates will meaningfully boost growth.

Columbia Bank reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,791 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,848 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.4% of Columbia Bank's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Columbia Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $15,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,902,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Services business posted record revenue in the fiscal second quarter, supported by ecosystem growth, AI-related updates, and its huge installed device base. Apple Continues to Expand Services Business: What's the Path Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators said Apple still has strong fundamentals, including a solid balance sheet, loyal customer base, and products investors continue to love, which supports the long-term bull case. Jim Cramer on Apple: “It Still Has Products We All Love”
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their earnings estimates for Apple, signaling expectations for steady profit growth over the next two fiscal years. Apple earnings estimate update
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s WWDC announcements showed a clearer AI roadmap, including next-generation Siri features and device software updates, but the market appears to be waiting for stronger evidence that these changes will drive meaningful revenue growth. Apple Unveils Siri AI. Here's Why It's Not Impressing Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggested Apple’s AI launch could help the stock over time, but it may take more than Siri upgrades alone to restore investor enthusiasm. Apple Just Gave Investors a Glimpse of Is AI Future at WWDC. It May Take More to Revive AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried Apple’s AI ambitions are colliding with a memory-cost crunch, creating pricing pressure that could weigh on margins. Apple Faces a No-Win Pricing Dilemma. Should Investors Be Worried?
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say the market was disappointed that Apple’s Siri AI reveal did not feel like a big enough breakthrough to justify a sharper rerating of the stock. Apple's AI News Underwhelms. Siri AI Release Concerns Persist.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $291.13 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $285.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.07 and a twelve month high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. 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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