Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Sells 3,276 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Hanson & Doremus Investment Management cut its Apple stake by 6.6% in the second quarter, selling 3,276 shares and retaining 46,676 shares valued at approximately $13.5 million.
• Apple remains heavily supported by institutional investors, which own 67.73% of its shares; major holders including Vanguard, State Street and Geode increased their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $330.61, though concerns include Apple’s premium valuation, potential foldable-iPhone demand, rising memory costs and ongoing lawsuits.

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,676 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,276 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.4% of Hanson & Doremus Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management's holdings in Apple were worth $13,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of Apple’s September 9 product event, the first major launch under new CEO John Ternus. Ternus described the event as “phenomenal,” raising expectations for new premium iPhones and the company’s first foldable iPhone. Apple’s New CEO Teases “Phenomenal” iPhone Launch
• Positive Sentiment: The foldable iPhone could provide a significant new growth catalyst. Morgan Stanley estimates the device could contribute approximately $14 billion to the December quarter, while other projections suggest strong market share and premium pricing potential if demand materializes. Apple’s Foldable iPhone May Contribute $14 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $360 price target, supporting the view that Apple’s product pipeline and earnings growth can justify its premium valuation. Apple’s services business also continues to benefit from price increases to Apple TV and Apple One. Apple TV Price Hike
• Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has formally succeeded Tim Cook, while Cook remains executive chairman. The structure provides continuity and preserves Cook’s government and China relationships, but Ternus must prove that a product-focused strategy can improve Apple’s position in AI. Apple Leadership Transition
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple to Underperform, reportedly citing the cancellation of an all-glass MacBook or foldable MacBook project and skepticism that the foldable iPhone will be more than a niche product. Jefferies Downgrades Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) UK lawsuit alleging that its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly restrict third-party developers while favoring Apple’s own advertising services. BASF has also filed a separate patent lawsuit over face-authentication technology. BASF Patent Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs could lift iPhone production expenses sharply, forcing Apple to raise prices, accept lower margins or risk weaker demand. Analysts remain divided, with DA Davidson maintaining a Neutral rating and a $270 price target. Apple Product and Leadership Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: An Apple senior vice president sold 1,439 shares worth about $456,000. The sale was relatively small, leaving the executive with nearly 35,800 shares, but it may add modestly to near-term investor caution. Apple Insider Trading Filing

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $365.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $330.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at $11,345,787.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 5,872 shares of company stock valued at $1,823,201. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $328.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $314.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 12.39%.

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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