Private Wealth Management Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Private Wealth Management Group LLC cut its Apple stake by 13.5% in Q4, selling 4,793 shares to finish with 30,838 shares valued at about $8.38 million (2.2% of the fund, its 16th-largest holding).
• Apple insiders have been net sellers recently: CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares for roughly $16.5M (via a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares, with insiders offloading 96,485 shares worth about $24.6M over the past 90 days.
• Apple beat Q2 expectations (EPS $2.01 vs. $1.95; revenue $111.18B), announced a $100B buyback and a dividend raise to $0.27, and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" analyst rating with a $304.31 price target.

Private Wealth Management Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,838 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,793 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.2% of Private Wealth Management Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Private Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $8,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Overbrook Management Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $101,301,000 after purchasing an additional 8,446 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Apple by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $363,256,000 after purchasing an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management raised its holdings in Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Apple by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 734,485 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $187,022,000 after purchasing an additional 27,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $280.19 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $260.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.25 and a twelve month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Apple's payout ratio is 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $268.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Maxim Group raised Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $304.31.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat and June-quarter guidance well above Street expectations, giving investors confidence in near-term sales momentum and margins. Apple stages sharpest rally in 9 months as execs cite iPhone, Mac demand in boosting guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management expanded capital returns — a large share buyback ($100B) plus a dividend raise — which supports EPS and buyback-driven upside. Apple (AAPL) Stock: Q2 Earnings Beat ... and $100B Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger-than-expected demand in Greater China and for the iPhone 17 and Mac lineup (including Mac Mini demand for AI work) is driving top-line upside and a re-rating by some analysts. Apple's China sales jumped 28%: now analysts are rethinking AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets and options activity surged, signaling bullish positioning and expectations for further upside. Analyst moves & options flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple signaled it is retiring its net-cash-neutral target — investors interpret this as freeing cash for a potential large AI acquisition, but timing and impact remain speculative. Apple just gave a subtle clue that a splashy AI acquisition may be in the cards
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/services expansion — Apple aims to grow its sports/TV footprint (Formula One content and TV deals), which supports longer-term services revenue diversification but is incremental near term. Apple's Cue expects F1 movie sequel...
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned that the global memory-chip shortage is worsening — that creates a real near-term cost/margin headwind and could force pricing or longer-term supplier commitments. Apple Warns the Memory Shortage Is Getting Worse
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious — Wall Street is split on whether the beat is sustainable versus one-time effects (tariff refunds, inventory/timing), leaving valuation and durability questions. Wall Street Splits on Apple After Q2 Beat

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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