Ascentis Wealth Management LLC Acquires 260,792 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ascentis Wealth Management significantly increased its Apple position by 822.7% in the second quarter, acquiring 260,792 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 292,493 shares.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple’s stock, with major firms including Vanguard, Norges Bank and Nuveen among those holding or expanding large positions.
• Apple recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.02 in EPS and $109.42 billion in revenue, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $330.61.

Ascentis Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 822.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 292,493 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 260,792 shares during the quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $85,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $325.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.95 and a 1 year high of $344.57. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $313.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 12.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. HSBC raised Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total transaction of $447,457.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at $11,576,357.55. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,367,024. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: John Ternus takes over with an encouraging product message: The longtime hardware engineering chief officially became CEO, while Tim Cook remains as executive chairman. Ternus reportedly told employees that a “huge” and “phenomenal” iPhone launch is coming next week, supporting expectations for strong product momentum and potential interest in a foldable iPhone. John Ternus hypes huge launch next week in first memo as Apple CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is providing additional support: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $380 price target, citing an opportunity for Apple to achieve “device dominance” in the AI era. Rosenblatt also raised its target to $303, though it maintained a Neutral rating, underscoring the mixed outlook at current prices. Bank of America sees device dominance ahead
• Positive Sentiment: Services and Mac demand remain potential growth catalysts: Apple’s price increases for Apple TV and Apple One highlight ecosystem pricing power and could lift high-margin services revenue. Separately, reported shortages of high-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio models suggest developers and businesses may be using Apple Silicon for local AI workloads. Cook out, Silicon in: Will Ternus trigger Apple’s edge AI boom?
• Neutral Sentiment: Continuity may reduce transition risk: Cook’s $47 million compensation package as executive chair signals that he will remain influential, including on government and strategic matters. However, Ternus must establish authority while succeeding a CEO whose tenure produced extraordinary shareholder returns. Tim Cook to be paid $47 million as Apple’s executive chair
• Negative Sentiment: Key risks remain concentrated in AI, costs and valuation: Apple is still viewed as behind rivals in AI and faces pressure to improve Siri. Memory shortages could weigh on hardware margins, while shares trade near record levels at roughly 37 times earnings. Apple also faces an escalating trade-secret lawsuit with OpenAI, which has called the claims baseless. Apple enters John Ternus era as AI challenges and memory crunch intensify

About Apple

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.

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.

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