Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Sold by Studio Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Studio Investment Management cut its Apple stake by 10.1% in the third quarter, selling 3,512 shares; it retained 31,370 shares valued at about $10.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: MarketBeat reported a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $347.11, though ratings include both holds and sells.
• Apple beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.10 per share and $114.48 billion in revenue; it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Studio Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,370 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,512 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.8% of Studio Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Studio Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $182,897,769,000 after purchasing an additional 28,321,085 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Citic Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $349.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apple from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $347.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,051,831.95. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 290,212 shares of company stock worth $96,639,685 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Recent Apple Headlines

Investors following AAPL have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: China Renaissance upgraded Apple to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $425, citing growth potential from Apple’s first foldable iPhone. The bullish outlook helped support shares. Analyst raises Apple price target to $425
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling out Gemini Live on Apple CarPlay, bringing another conversational AI option to iPhone users’ cars. This adds functionality to the CarPlay platform, though it also highlights competition for Apple’s own assistant. Google brings Gemini Live to Apple CarPlay
• Negative Sentiment: Memory-chip prices are creating a margin headwind. Apple’s December-quarter gross-margin outlook of 45%–46% was reported below analysts’ 46.3% expectation, tempering the positive impact of strong sales. Apple faces memory-cost pressure despite record quarter

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $355.63 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.42 and a 52 week high of $355.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.65, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.07.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Profile

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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