Cannell & Spears LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Cannell & Spears LLC cut its Apple position by 2.1% in the first quarter, selling 15,959 shares and retaining 727,889 shares valued at approximately $182 million. Apple remains the firm’s fourth-largest holding at about 3.6% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial: hedge funds and institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, with Vanguard, State Street, Geode Capital and Morgan Stanley among the largest holders, all of which increased their positions in the fourth quarter.
• Apple recently exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.02 in quarterly EPS and $109.42 billion in revenue, up 16.4% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $330.44 price target, though rising costs, slower Services growth and increasing foldable-device competition pose risks.

Cannell & Spears LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 727,889 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 15,959 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.6% of Cannell & Spears LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cannell & Spears LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $181,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Planned CEO transition appears orderly. Tim Cook will step down in September and be succeeded by longtime Apple executive John Ternus, a veteran with experience dating back to the Steve Jobs era. Cook’s endorsement and Ternus’ familiarity with Apple’s products may reduce concerns about strategic disruption. Tim Cook Says There’s ‘No Better Person’ to Take Over at Apple
• Positive Sentiment: Core business momentum remains strong. Apple’s latest quarter exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up roughly 16% year over year. Broad iPhone, Mac and Services demand continues to support the bullish case. Tim Cook's Last Quarter as CEO Was Apple's Best June Quarter Ever
• Positive Sentiment: App Store monetization is holding up. App Store revenue increased slightly despite a 4% decline in iPhone and iPad downloads, as revenue per download rose 4.7%. This suggests continued pricing and engagement resilience in a key Services business. Apple App Store Revenue Ticks Up Despite Falling Downloads
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is seeking dismissal of Apple’s trade-secrets lawsuit. OpenAI denies misappropriating confidential information related to Apple’s consumer-hardware efforts. The filing does not resolve the dispute, leaving legal and competitive uncertainty in place. OpenAI Seeks Dismissal of Apple's Trade Secrets Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term cost and growth pressures are weighing on sentiment. Rising memory prices, supply constraints and policy risks could pressure margins, while slower Services growth has prompted some firms to downgrade Apple to Hold or Moderate Sell. Apple's Capex Strategy Worked But Other Pressures Are Mounting
• Negative Sentiment: Competition in emerging hardware is increasing. Samsung reported a 30% rise in foldable-device preorders, highlighting a market Apple has yet to enter. Investors may view future Apple foldables as an opportunity, but execution and timing remain uncertain. Samsung Foldable Preorders Jump 30%

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $313.33 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.93, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.42. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $219.25 and a 12 month high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Apple from $364.00 to $360.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $330.44.

Apple Company Profile

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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