Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Sold by Cordatus Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Cordatus Wealth Management cut its Apple stake by 1.6% in the third quarter, selling 1,516 shares; it still held 91,364 shares worth about $30.4 million, its second-largest portfolio position.
• Apple’s latest quarter beat expectations, with earnings of $2.10 per share and revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year. Shares recently traded near their 52-week high.
• Investors face competing signals: renewed demand and optimism around Apple Intelligence support the stock, while higher component costs may pressure holiday-quarter margins and some analysts have raised valuation concerns.

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,516 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.8% of Cordatus Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $30,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $13,658,359,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,588,946,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post-election relief helped lift major technology stocks, including Apple, as investors saw reduced near-term uncertainty. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reached a record high amid signs of renewed demand. Investors are also weighing the rollout of Apple Intelligence in China, which could help close a competitive gap in a major market. Invezz article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reducing employee budgets for AI tools as it seeks to manage expenses, while reported research costs have climbed 32%. Cost control may help, but the spending trend underscores the expense of competing in AI. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory prices remain a key risk to profitability: Apple expects higher component costs to pressure holiday-quarter gross margins, and its manufacturing purchase commitments have increased. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margin concerns persist despite the rally; DZ Bank downgraded Apple to sell, citing a $300 price target. MarketBeat ratings

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. KeyCorp restated an "underweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $343.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.36, for a total value of $823,720.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,396 shares in the company, valued at $11,123,490.56. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total transaction of $480,309.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $349.51 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $334.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.42 and a 52 week high of $354.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 earned $1.85 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.

Apple Company Profile

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.