Matisse Capital Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Matisse Capital trimmed its Apple stake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,704 shares and leaving it with 36,722 shares worth about $9.98 million. Apple remains the fund’s largest position, making up roughly 4.4% of its portfolio.
• Apple continues to see heavy institutional ownership and mixed insider selling, including recent sales by Ben Borders and CEO Tim Cook. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,759 shares worth about $25 million.
• Despite the stake reduction, Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: Apple has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a price target of $310.31, while recent reports highlight optimism around AI-driven growth and strong fundamentals such as Services revenue and iPhone sales.

Matisse Capital cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,722 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,704 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.4% of Matisse Capital's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Matisse Capital's holdings in Apple were worth $9,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 15.7% during the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.31.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying Apple is well positioned to benefit from the emerging “agentic AI” smartphone market and could unlock substantial new revenue from a redesigned Siri and AI features. Apple seen as key beneficiary of emerging agentic AI smartphone market, BofA says
• Positive Sentiment: Other Wall Street coverage echoed that view, with reports saying Apple is hitting all-time highs as investors expect a deeper AI push at WWDC, which could improve sentiment and support further upside. Apple stock hits all-time high as analysts see AI-driven breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also highlighted strong underlying fundamentals, including record Services revenue and continued strength in iPhone sales, reinforcing the long-term growth case for Apple. Strong Content & Advertising Aids Apple's Services: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple and Google are pushing back against Canada’s proposed police data-access bill, a regulatory issue that could affect the company’s privacy stance but is not an immediate earnings driver. Apple, Google Blast Canada’s Plan to Expand Police Data Powers
• Negative Sentiment: One potential headwind came from an article noting iPhone 17e sales in Japan have slowed versus its predecessor, which could raise questions about demand in some markets. The Real Reason The iPhone 17e Is Falling Behind Its Predecessor In Japan

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of AAPL opened at $308.33 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $271.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $311.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

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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