Eagle Global Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Eagle Global Advisors LLC slightly reduced its Apple stake by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, but Apple remains its largest holding at 10.8% of the portfolio, worth about $290.9 million.
• Apple’s leadership and insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Tim Cook’s pre-planned sale and another insider sale by Ben Borders, with insiders selling 97,759 shares in the last quarter overall.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on Apple, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $308.74, while the company also reported better-than-expected earnings and recently raised its quarterly dividend.

Eagle Global Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,070,107 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,065 shares during the period. Apple makes up 10.8% of Eagle Global Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Eagle Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $290,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group set a $296.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $308.74.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly planning a broad set of AI features for iOS 27, including writing help, app shortcuts, and other Siri enhancements, signaling a stronger product roadmap for the next iPhone cycle.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple’s revamped Siri may lean on Google Gemini suggest Apple is willing to use outside AI to accelerate its assistant overhaul, which could improve competitive positioning faster than building everything in-house. Apple's Next-Gen Siri App May Lean Heavily on Google's AI
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary highlighted Apple’s services business as a potential earnings engine, with some analysts seeing a path to higher EPS if the ecosystem continues to expand.
• Positive Sentiment: Hedge-fund interest also remains supportive, with Viking Global reportedly opening a fresh Apple stake worth nearly $1 billion, reinforcing institutional confidence in the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s upcoming WWDC is expected to center on AI integration, but it is still a preview event rather than a revenue event, so the near-term impact depends on how compelling the announcements are. Apple Reveals Dates of Tim Cook's Final WWDC as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Social chatter around satellite connectivity and other hardware upgrades points to continued innovation interest, but these themes are longer-term and less likely to move the stock immediately.
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is facing renewed regulatory pressure after an Indian court ordered the company to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding another legal overhang for investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is discounting iPhone 17 models in China highlight ongoing competition and margin pressure in a critical market, which could temper enthusiasm if price cuts deepen.

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $297.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.68. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $303.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

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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