Blue Trust Inc. Sells 4,603 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its Apple stake by 2.6%, selling 4,603 shares in Q4 and now holds 173,464 shares worth about $47.16 million (Apple is 0.5% of its portfolio and its 28th largest holding).
• Senior insiders executed sizable Rule 10b5‑1 sales on April 2: SVP Deirdre O’Brien sold 30,002 shares and CEO Tim Cook sold 64,949 shares, modestly reducing their positions.
• Analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $301.37 after several firms raised targets (e.g., JPMorgan to $325, Wedbush $350), and Apple recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,464 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,603 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.5% of Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $47,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.4% in the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position 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 bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 15.7% in the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Stephens set a $315.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $301.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate 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: Bank of America raised its price target and reiterated a bullish outlook ahead of Q2, citing strong iPhone and Services momentum — a clear analyst catalyst supporting upside expectations. Apple price target raised ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call buying: traders purchased ~1.03M Apple calls (≈24% above typical daily call volume), signaling short‑term bullish positioning that can amplify intraday gains.
• Positive Sentiment: Product catalysts — reports on Apple’s imminent foldable iPhone and recent product announcements keep a tangible growth story intact (new hardware can lift ASPs and Services engagement). Apple's Foldable iPhone Foray
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon’s acquisition of Globalstar reshapes Apple’s satellite dependence — it creates near‑term uncertainty (a critical vendor now controlled by a competitor) but also a potential catalyst if Apple elects to accelerate its own satellite strategy or strike new partnerships. Apple Sends an SOS
• Neutral Sentiment: AI narrative and positioning: multiple pieces flag rising investor focus on Apple’s AI approach versus peers — positive long‑term but execution and timing remain uncertain, so this is more of a watch‑item than an immediate earnings lever. Apple: More Attention On AI Strategy
• Negative Sentiment: App‑store security incident: a fake Ledger app that stole ~$9.5M highlighted review gaps and raises regulatory/PR risk around App Store oversight (Apple removed the app, but incidents like this can drive scrutiny). Apple removes fake Ledger app
• Negative Sentiment: Store closures including a unionized location drew criticism and union‑busting claims — reputational and workforce risks are remote to revenue but could attract regulatory or headline pressure. Apple closing 3 stores

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $266.43 on Thursday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $260.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.94. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $189.81 and a one year high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.15%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

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.