Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ayrshire Capital Management cut its Apple stake by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,048 shares and leaving it with 34,496 shares worth about $9.38 million.
• Apple’s insiders have also been selling: CFO Kevan Parekh and CEO Tim Cook both reduced holdings recently, with insiders selling $24.96 million worth of stock over the past 90 days.
• Fundamental and sentiment signals remain mixed—Apple beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and raised its dividend, but analysts are split, with some cautious on valuation while others see Services and China pricing as growth supports.

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,496 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,048 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.3% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $9,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $112,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last ninety days. 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: Apple’s App Store fraud prevention system blocked $2.2 billion in fraudulent transactions last year, underscoring the strength and scale of its Services ecosystem. Apple uses AI and human reviews to prevent $2.2B in potential App Store fraud
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to Services as a major growth driver for Apple, which could support earnings even as iPhone growth matures. AAPL: Forget the iPhone—Services Will Drive the Next Phase of Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly offering China price cuts for the 618 holiday, a move that could help its sales and market-share push in a competitive market. Apple cutting prices in China for 618 holiday likely to aid market share push: Wedbush
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple received some favorable media attention after Google’s I/O event, with commentary suggesting Google’s AI showcase may have strengthened expectations that Apple will have room to compete aggressively at WWDC. Google I/O 2026 had nothing to say and said it badly ahead of Apple's WWDC
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Apple is reorganizing its hardware team and pushing more AI-powered features suggest a product-development refresh, but the impact on near-term earnings is unclear. Apple reportedly plans hardware team shake up to ramp up future devices
• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc turned cautious on Apple, warning that valuation looks stretched and suggesting the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc Turns Cautious on Apple Stock as Valuation Concerns Grow. It’s Due for Profit-Taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Apple remains exposed to regulatory and strategic risks, including an Indian court order to cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe and ongoing concerns about AI feature delays. Apple ordered by Indian court to 'fully cooperate' in iPhone App Store antitrust probe

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $302.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $267.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.10. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $303.20.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $308.74.

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.

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