Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC Acquires 8,792 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Granite Islands Private Wealth increased its Apple holdings by 25% in the third quarter, purchasing 8,792 additional shares for a total of 43,945 shares valued at approximately $14.6 million. Apple now represents 8.4% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, with major holders including State Street, Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America and Amundi increasing or initiating positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Apple carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $340.59 target price, although some firms maintained neutral or underweight views. Apple also exceeded quarterly EPS estimates and reported 16.4% year-over-year revenue growth, while insiders sold $96.3 million in stock over the past three months.

Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,945 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 8,792 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 8.4% of Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $14,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $182,897,769,000 after buying an additional 28,321,085 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Moffett Nathanson set a $283.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.18, for a total value of $806,495.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,116,870.56. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 46,389 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $348.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $243.42 and a one year high of $351.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $332.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $295.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain optimistic ahead of earnings, citing strong demand for Apple’s new iPhone Duo, continued Services growth and potential AI-related momentum. Options activity also points to expectations for a post-earnings rally. Apple's Q4 Earnings Loom
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy rating, while Monness raised its price target to $355. Apple is also attracting attention as it approaches Nvidia in market capitalization, with revenue growth described as its fastest in about five years. Apple Stock Heads Toward All-Time High
• Positive Sentiment: Apple launched its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, featuring OLED displays and M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The move expands the Mac product cycle and could support higher average selling prices, despite the premium starting price. Apple Shows First Touchscreen Laptops
• Neutral Sentiment: Forty-seven exchange-traded funds added to their Apple holdings, indicating continued institutional demand, although the purchases do not necessarily signal near-term changes in fundamentals. 47 ETFs Add to Apple Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Investors face margin and valuation concerns. AI-driven flash-memory demand has sharply increased component costs, while Apple’s roughly 40-times earnings multiple leaves limited room for disappointing guidance. AI Has Made Flash Memory More Expensive
• Negative Sentiment: South Korea fined Apple and Google a combined $47.6 million over alleged unfair app-payment practices. Early reports of cracked iPhone Duo screens and an executive stock sale add smaller sources of investor caution. South Korea Fines Google and Apple

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.

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