Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Knollwood Investment Advisory cut its Apple position by 15.6% in the second quarter, selling 23,368 shares and retaining 126,467 shares valued at approximately $36.6 million.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, while insiders have sold roughly $92.1 million in stock over the past 90 days, primarily including sales tied to tax withholding on vested equity awards.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Apple holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $340.02. Recent quarterly revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion, though investors remain focused on the company’s AI execution and monetization.

Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,467 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 23,368 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.3% of Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $36,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,443,242,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,658,359,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,588,946,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. This trade represents a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.18, for a total value of $806,495.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,116,870.56. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 276,984 shares of company stock valued at $92,116,025 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. KGI Securities lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.02.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned Siri overhaul could help restore investor confidence in its AI capabilities. The bullish case also rests on record Services revenue, a strong iPhone cycle and recent fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, with EPS rising 29%. Will Siri Overhaul Help Apple Restore Its AI Credibility?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is tightening Mac full-disk access controls to make AI-agent data requests more visible to users. The move may strengthen the company’s privacy differentiation as concerns grow about autonomous AI tools accessing personal information. Apple Makes It Tougher for AI Agents to Access Macs
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO John Ternus, SVP Deirdre O’Brien and insider Timothy Cook collectively sold approximately $87.8 million of AAPL shares. Each filing said the transactions covered tax-withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards, making them less indicative of a negative outlook, although the sales may add short-term headline pressure. Apple Insider Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Counterpoint expects roughly 6 million sales of Apple’s high-priced iPhone Duo this year, potentially representing at least $12 billion in hardware revenue. However, the late launch window and limited volume are not expected to materially change the broader AAPL investment case. Analyst Sees 6 Million iPhone Duo Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Apple is behind rivals in AI monetization and execution. Comparisons suggesting Microsoft could surpass Apple in market value by 2027 reinforce worries that AAPL’s premium valuation requires substantial AI progress. Microsoft Could Become More Valuable Than Apple
• Negative Sentiment: More restrictive Mac permissions could reduce the usefulness of AI agents or create friction for developers, potentially complicating Apple’s effort to make its ecosystem a leading AI platform. With AAPL trading at a relatively high earnings multiple, execution concerns may weigh more heavily on the stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $332.89 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $322.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.90. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.42 and a 12 month high of $345.34.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets 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 software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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