Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,549 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Benedict Financial Advisors increased its Apple stake by 3.1% in the third quarter, adding 2,549 shares for a total of 84,665 shares valued at $27.9 million. Apple represents approximately 5.2% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of the stock.
• Apple reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $109.42 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue up 16.4% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, equivalent to a 0.3% yield.
• Apple shares were trading near record highs, with a market capitalization of roughly $5 trillion, and analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $340.39 price target. Growth prospects include AI initiatives and the first foldable iPhone, but concerns remain over valuation, AI competitiveness, potential iPhone demand weakness, and significant insider selling.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,665 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,549 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.2% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $27,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospect Hill Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $146,370,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $168,646,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $482,388,000. Satovsky Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $16,064,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,513,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple and Meta Platforms are collaborating to let developers run Meta’s large Muse AI model locally on high-end Mac computers. The partnership could strengthen the Mac’s appeal for AI workloads while reducing reliance on cloud computing. Apple and Meta team up to make Muse AI model run on Mac computers
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s first foldable iPhone, the 7.6-inch iPhone Duo, begins preorders Friday. A successful launch could open a new premium product category and support revenue growth, although its high price makes demand uncertain. iPhone Duo preorders begin Friday
• Positive Sentiment: Apple recently closed above a $5 trillion market capitalization, reinforcing investor confidence and highlighting the stock’s recent momentum. Reports also indicate Apple Intelligence may finally launch in mainland China in December, expanding the potential user base. Apple tops $5 trillion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: The China AI rollout is reportedly limited and may exclude the upgraded Siri and Genmoji features, making the launch strategically important but less compelling than a full-featured release. Apple Intelligence in China
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators remain concerned that Apple is spending less on AI than rivals and could fall behind in advanced assistants, while the stock’s elevated valuation leaves less room for execution disappointments. Reported iPhone 18 Pro component-order reductions add to demand concerns. Apple reportedly cuts iPhone 18 orders
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is challenging a $5.7 billion damages ruling in a patent case, while OpenAI alleges that a former employee who joined Apple took confidential information about an unreleased device. Both matters create potential financial and reputational risk. Apple challenges Taction damages ruling
• Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 Apple shares for approximately $828,000. The transaction is relatively small compared with Apple’s market value, but insider selling can add modest short-term pressure.

Apple Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $342.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.42 and a 12 month high of $348.15. The company has a market cap of $4.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.90.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Loop Capital set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $355.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.39.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Timothy D. Cook sold 191,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total value of $63,846,078.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,264,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,086,837,377.28. This represents a 5.55% 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 have sold a total of 281,782 shares of company stock worth $93,740,172 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets 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 software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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