RNC Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• RNC Capital Management trimmed its Apple stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,364 shares and leaving it with 120,584 shares valued at about $32.8 million.
• Apple continues to attract mixed but largely positive Wall Street attention, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a price target around $310 as analysts look ahead to WWDC and potential AI-related updates.
• The company recently posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also raising its dividend to $0.27 per share; however, some insiders and investors have been trimming holdings and the stock is trading near its 52-week high.

RNC Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,584 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,364 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $32,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of WWDC, with Apple expected to unveil key AI features that could improve Siri and strengthen its software ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s MacBook Neo is reportedly gaining traction with new buyers, suggesting the company is still expanding its hardware appeal beyond its core customer base. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been lifting targets on AAPL ahead of WWDC, reflecting confidence that Apple’s AI strategy and software roadmap could reaccelerate growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: New Apple Wallet bill-splitting and payment-request features may help deepen engagement, but the immediate stock impact is less clear because the move is incremental rather than transformative. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is being discussed as a potentially overvalued stock after its recent rally, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints expectations. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Dell and Nvidia have intensified competition in PCs and laptops, pressuring Apple’s positioning in hardware categories like the MacBook Neo. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.31.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $315.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $276.58 and a 200 day moving average of $270.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.07 and a 52 week high of $315.45.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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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