Cura Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,070 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Cura Wealth Advisors reduced its Apple stake by 21.8%, selling 4,070 shares during the first quarter and retaining 14,594 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million. Apple represents about 1.7% of the firm’s holdings.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $330.44, although some firms recently downgraded the stock amid concerns over valuation, slowing Services growth and rising costs.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, including $109.42 billion in revenue and $2.02 in earnings per share, both exceeding estimates. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Cura Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,594 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,070 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of Cura Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Phillip Securities lowered Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. KeyCorp reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $330.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: App Store revenue rose 0.6% year over year to $3.4 billion during the first 35 days of Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter, despite a 4% decline in iPhone and iPad downloads. Revenue per download increased 4.7% to $1.02, suggesting stronger monetization and supporting the Services business. Apple App Store revenue ticks up despite falling downloads
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenue reached a June-quarter record of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, while earnings exceeded estimates. Reports also point to broad iPhone, Mac and Services demand, resilient iPhone sales and continued growth in India, providing a fundamental counterweight to recent market concerns. Apple’s Quarterly iPhone Sales Were Even Better Than They Seem
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and market commentators continue to recommend buying the pullback, arguing that Apple’s ecosystem, product pipeline and long-term earnings potential remain attractive despite near-term volatility. 3 Reasons to Buy Apple Stock on the Dip
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI asked a federal judge to dismiss Apple’s trade-secrets lawsuit, denying that it misappropriated confidential information through former Apple employees. The filing creates legal and reputational uncertainty, although the financial impact is not yet clear. OpenAI asks US judge to dismiss Apple’s trade secrets case
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts at Phillip Securities, DZ Bank and China Renaissance lowered their views on Apple to Moderate Sell or Hold. Concerns include slowing Services growth, elevated memory costs, supply constraints, policy risks and Apple’s premium valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Services revenue grew about 12% to $30.7 billion, making it the slowest-growing of Apple’s three largest businesses. Tim Cook also warned that rising memory prices could pressure margins, while the CEO transition adds uncertainty after a record quarter. Tim Cook’s Last Quarter as CEO

Apple Stock Up 0.5%

Apple stock opened at $312.41 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $309.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.02. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.58 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.83, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.Apple's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.

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