Seek First Inc. Sells 29,043 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Seek First Inc. reduced its Apple stake by 25.8% in the second quarter, selling 29,043 shares and retaining 83,496 shares valued at approximately $24.16 million. Apple remains the investor’s second-largest holding, representing about 15.3% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $109.42 billion, surpassing analyst estimates, while revenue increased 16.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.
• Apple shares opened at $325.13, near their 52-week high, with analysts assigning a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $330.61. Investors remain focused on the new CEO transition, upcoming product launches and Apple’s ability to catch up in AI, alongside valuation and memory-cost risks.

Seek First Inc. decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,496 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 29,043 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 15.3% of Seek First Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Seek First Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $24,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 890.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after buying an additional 37,746,784 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: John Ternus takes over with an encouraging product message: The longtime hardware engineering chief officially became CEO, while Tim Cook remains as executive chairman. Ternus reportedly told employees that a “huge” and “phenomenal” iPhone launch is coming next week, supporting expectations for strong product momentum and potential interest in a foldable iPhone. John Ternus hypes huge launch next week in first memo as Apple CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is providing additional support: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $380 price target, citing an opportunity for Apple to achieve “device dominance” in the AI era. Rosenblatt also raised its target to $303, though it maintained a Neutral rating, underscoring the mixed outlook at current prices. Bank of America sees device dominance ahead
• Positive Sentiment: Services and Mac demand remain potential growth catalysts: Apple’s price increases for Apple TV and Apple One highlight ecosystem pricing power and could lift high-margin services revenue. Separately, reported shortages of high-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio models suggest developers and businesses may be using Apple Silicon for local AI workloads. Cook out, Silicon in: Will Ternus trigger Apple’s edge AI boom?
• Neutral Sentiment: Continuity may reduce transition risk: Cook’s $47 million compensation package as executive chair signals that he will remain influential, including on government and strategic matters. However, Ternus must establish authority while succeeding a CEO whose tenure produced extraordinary shareholder returns. Tim Cook to be paid $47 million as Apple’s executive chair
• Negative Sentiment: Key risks remain concentrated in AI, costs and valuation: Apple is still viewed as behind rivals in AI and faces pressure to improve Siri. Memory shortages could weigh on hardware margins, while shares trade near record levels at roughly 37 times earnings. Apple also faces an escalating trade-secret lawsuit with OpenAI, which has called the claims baseless. Apple enters John Ternus era as AI challenges and memory crunch intensify

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.6%

Apple stock opened at $325.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $313.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Phillip Securities downgraded Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $330.61.

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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