Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 5,697 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its Apple stake by 0.8%, selling 5,697 shares and retaining 723,806 shares valued at approximately $183.7 million. Apple remains the fund’s second-largest holding, representing about 3.7% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, with several other funds increasing their positions during the fourth quarter.
• Wall Street’s outlook remains favorable: Apple has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $327.40, while recent earnings surpassed expectations and revenue rose 16.6% year over year.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 723,806 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,697 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Apple were worth $183,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its position in Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Maxim Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.40.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone demand and steady pricing are expected to produce Apple’s strongest June-quarter revenue growth in five years. Analysts are also watching for contributions from Services, Mac, and iPhone 17 shipments. Apple set for strongest June-quarter sales growth in 5 years
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new Apple Upgrade program, powered by Klarna, lets U.S. customers lease iPhones, Macs, iPads, and Apple Watches through monthly payments. The initiative could lower upfront costs, increase upgrade frequency, and support device sales. Apple launches US device leasing program with Klarna
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group modestly raised its fiscal 2027 EPS forecast to $9.57 from $9.56, above the current-year consensus estimate of $8.76, reinforcing the bullish long-term earnings outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s record valuation reflects investor confidence in its relatively disciplined AI spending and improving product demand, while money has rotated away from Nvidia and other high-spending chip stocks. However, options markets imply a comparatively contained post-earnings move, suggesting much of the optimism may already be priced in. Apple Could Swing $170 Billion In Value After Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a leadership transition, with Tim Cook preparing for his final earnings call as CEO and hardware chief John Ternus scheduled to succeed him. Investors will seek evidence that the incoming CEO can sustain growth beyond the iPhone.
• Negative Sentiment: Proposed U.K. App Store rules could loosen Apple’s control over in-app payments and reduce commission revenue; Apple argues the measures amount to price regulation. Apple says UK App Store proposal amounts to price regulation
• Negative Sentiment: A federal lawsuit alleges a fraudulent Bitcoin wallet app remained available in Apple’s App Store, raising potential legal costs and renewed concerns about app-review and platform liability.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $338.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.89, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.50 and a twelve month high of $344.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple 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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