DDD Partners LLC Purchases 3,847 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• DDD Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.4%, buying 3,847 shares to hold 164,376 shares worth about $44.69 million, making Apple its third-largest holding (2.8% of the firm's portfolio).
• Large institutional activity continued, with firms like Norges Bank and Nuveen initiating multi‑billion dollar positions and others (Northern Trust, UBS AM) adding tens of millions of shares; overall, institutions and hedge funds own about 67.73% of Apple.
• Company insiders sold a combined 96,485 shares last quarter (about $24.6 million), including SVP Deirdre O'Brien (30,002 shares, ~$7.66M) and CEO Tim Cook (64,949 shares, ~$16.51M), with the trades executed under pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans.

DDD Partners LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,376 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,847 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.8% of DDD Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. DDD Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $44,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone momentum and share gains support revenue upside — reports say Apple reclaimed the top global smartphone slot in the March quarter, which underpins expectations for continued hardware-led top‑line strength. iPhone 17 shipment story
• Positive Sentiment: Services growth and App Store moves could lift recurring revenue — Services jumped ~14% Y/Y in fiscal Q1 and Apple rolled out a cheaper, 12‑month-commitment monthly subscription option to boost retention and ARPU. Services growth article App Store subscription change
• Positive Sentiment: Street upgrades and modest estimate bumps ahead of earnings — UBS and some analysts raised targets and Erste edged FY26 EPS forecasts up, increasing the bar for a beat/guide‑up reaction. UBS price target lift
• Neutral Sentiment: Scheduled earnings and macro prints are the immediate catalyst — Q2 results (Apr 30 after close) and April PCE/GDP/Fed commentary this week increase short‑term volatility and make the print the main market mover. Earnings and economic calendar preview
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO succession to John Ternus is being priced in — investors are parsing his engineering/product focus (longer-term positive) versus near‑term execution risk during the transition. Ternus CEO succession piece
• Negative Sentiment: Competition on AI-first phones (Qualcomm + OpenAI/MediaTek) is pressuring sentiment — reports that rivals are building AI-native chips have led to rotation into chipmakers and increased worry about Apple’s on‑device AI roadmap. Qualcomm/OpenAI competition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal uncertainty on the App Store persists — Epic’s recent procedural win keeps the external‑payments environment unsettled, which could affect Services economics and developer relations. Epic Games / App Store legal update
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing criticism that Apple lags on AI execution — multiple pieces argue Apple needs a visible AI breakthrough; that narrative is increasing downside risk if the earnings/guide don’t show clear AI monetization progress. Apple AI execution concern
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling flagged — a recent SEC filing shows a sale by a senior finance executive, which can amplify short‑term nervousness even if the size is modest. SEC Form 4

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Stephens set a $315.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $301.83.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $270.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.25 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

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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