Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 7,597 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Laidlaw Wealth Management acquired 7,597 Apple shares valued at approximately $2.2 million, making Apple its second-largest portfolio holding at 6.3%. Institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of Apple.
• Apple reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share on $109.42 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue increased 16.4% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.
• Apple shares opened at $339.75, near their 52-week high, and analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $340.14; however, insiders have sold 8,632 shares over the past 90 days.

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,597 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,198,000. Apple comprises about 6.3% of Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Evansbrook LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC now owns 7,847 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,632 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $339.75 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.42 and a 1 year high of $345.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $321.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 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 business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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. 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 presently 12.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.14.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone momentum: Investor enthusiasm remains high following Apple’s introduction of the approximately $1,999 iPhone Duo, which represents the company’s biggest iPhone design change in years. Early interest and strong iPhone 18 Pro preorder lead times have reinforced expectations for an upgrade cycle and potentially higher revenue. Apple Folds & Meta Muses
• Positive Sentiment: AI-focused Macs: New Mac mini and Mac Studio systems are being marketed as a lower-cost alternative to cloud data-center computing because businesses can run AI models locally without recurring per-token charges. The strategy could support Mac demand and broaden Apple’s role in enterprise AI, even as Nvidia remains dominant in large-scale infrastructure. With new Macs, Apple aims to take on Microsoft, Nvidia in a rush to lower AI costs
• Positive Sentiment: Wearables expansion: Apple is reportedly developing a screenless fitness tracker to compete with Whoop and Oura. A lower-priced, health-focused wearable could expand Apple’s addressable market and generate additional services revenue, although the product may not launch until as early as 2028. Apple Considers Screenless Fitness Tracker to Expand Wearable Lineup Beyond Smartwatches
• Positive Sentiment: Services and international growth: Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in India next month, initially with Axis Bank, while hiring in digital assets could support future payments and tokenization initiatives. These efforts add to the company’s recurring-revenue ecosystem.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and technical backdrop: Apple’s record run and roughly 39-times earnings multiple are attracting profit-taking concerns, but analysts continue to cite earnings beats, strong cash generation, and improving product momentum. The stock is trading near its 52-week high and close to technical breakout levels.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and geopolitical risks: Apple is opening claims under a $250 million settlement related to alleged misleading Apple Intelligence advertising. Separately, pressure on the new CEO to reconsider Chinese chip sourcing highlights supply-chain and U.S.-China trade risks.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company's ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.

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