Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC slightly trimmed its Apple stake in the fourth quarter, selling 2,016 shares and reducing its position by 0.4%. The firm still held 525,172 shares worth about $142.8 million, making Apple its second-largest holding.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Apple, with analysts maintaining a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $310.31. Recent notes highlighted optimism around AI features, including a redesigned Siri, as a potential growth driver.
• Apple continues to show strong fundamentals and shareholder returns, posting fiscal-quarter EPS of $2.01 on revenue of $111.18 billion, both above estimates. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 from $0.26.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 525,172 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,016 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.5% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $142,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380, saying AI features and a redesigned Siri could drive substantial incremental revenue over the next few years. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research also boosted its outlook ahead of WWDC 2026, saying Apple could finally show “real AI sizzle,” which has helped fuel expectations for a stronger product cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces highlight Apple’s recent stock strength, including new record highs and growing optimism that the company’s Services business and ecosystem remain resilient even as iPhone growth slows. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: News that Android smartphone makers may be hit harder than Apple by AI memory shortages could be relatively supportive for AAPL by comparison, but it is more of an industry backdrop than a direct catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles point to Apple trading near all-time highs and approaching a $5 trillion valuation, reinforcing bullish momentum, though these are mostly commentary rather than fresh company-specific developments. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain cautious because iPhone shipment momentum is softening and Apple’s next major growth driver still needs to be proven at WWDC, which leaves room for disappointment if AI announcements underwhelm. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters item notes Apple and Google are pushing back against Canada’s online safety bill over encryption concerns, a regulatory issue that could create future headline risk. Article Title

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $310.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $313.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid 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 was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

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.