Phillips Financial Management LLC Buys Shares of 20,863 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Phillips Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,863 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $6,037,000. Apple comprises about 0.4% of Phillips Financial Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone Duo creates a potential new growth cycle. Apple’s $1,999 foldable iPhone, scheduled to arrive October 23, could drive upgrades, deepen ecosystem engagement and add a high-margin premium product category. Some analysts believe foldables could eventually account for 10% to 20% of iPhone revenue. How Wall Street viewed Apple's foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see renewed hardware momentum. Alongside the Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watch models, AirPods 5 and expanded Siri AI features. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target, supporting the bullish reaction. TD Cowen reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Carrier promotions could reduce sticker-price resistance. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are offering installment and trade-in incentives for the expensive Duo, potentially broadening access without an immediate industrywide price war. Wireless carrier promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided. Bank of America retained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $370, while Rosenblatt kept a Neutral rating and $303 target. The debate centers on Duo demand, supply constraints, valuation and the durability of the upgrade cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure remains the main risk. Apple raised iPhone Pro prices by $100, but memory and other component costs are rising rapidly. Management has already guided to lower gross margins, raising concerns that pricing may not fully offset higher costs. Apple margin pressure from memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and competition limit upside. Apple trades near the upper end of its historical earnings multiple, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung remain strong competitors in China and the foldable market.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a modest cautionary signal. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold approximately $456,000 of stock, reducing her direct holdings by about 4%, although she retains a substantial position.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total transaction of $456,177.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 7,310 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,378 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $303.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $304.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $334.91.

Apple Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of AAPL opened at $332.27 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.45. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.02 and a 52 week high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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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