Sepio Capital LP Buys 9,226 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Sepio Capital increased its Apple stake by 13.7% in the third quarter, adding 9,226 shares to hold 76,372 shares valued at about $25.4 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of Apple shares; several other funds also expanded their positions during the quarter.
• Apple beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.10 and revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year. Analysts’ average rating is “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $343.74.

Sepio Capital LP grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,372 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 9,226 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.0% of Sepio Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Apple were worth $25,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Visionary Horizons LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 3,031 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Seros Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Seros Financial LLC now owns 4,633 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. NBT Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $83,149,000. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 93,538 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $31,150,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the third quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 133,250 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $44,375,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple has held up better than many Big Tech peers and recently reached record territory, with investors appearing to favor its restrained AI infrastructure spending compared with peers’ heavy investment. That approach may help preserve cash and margins, though it also raises questions about its AI competitiveness. Apple Is Holding Strong While Big Tech Sells Off. Is It Next?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple Intelligence cleared a regulatory step for use on tablets and laptops in China, potentially expanding the service’s reach in a key market. Apple Intelligence registers with Chinese regulator
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly holding capital spending steady while rivals accelerate AI infrastructure investment. This could support cash generation, but investors may also question whether the company is investing enough to keep pace in AI. Apple holds capex steady as peers accelerate AI infrastructure buildout
• Negative Sentiment: Binance warned that an iOS vulnerability could allow malicious apps to access data from other apps, potentially exposing crypto-wallet keys and credentials. Uncertainty over affected versions and whether updates resolve the flaw could create security and reputational concerns. Binance warns iOS flaw could expose crypto wallet keys
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of worker deaths at an Indian supplier and an ensuing investigation raise potential supply-chain, operational and reputational risks as Apple expands manufacturing in India. Apple faces major supplier investigation after 3 worker deaths
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns and a reported memory-cost squeeze could pressure expectations. KeyCorp also cut its fiscal 2027 EPS forecast to $8.34 from $9.08 and maintains an Underweight rating with a $250 price target, well below the consensus forecast cited in the report. Apple Is Above $5 Trillion After Its First-Ever Close Above $350

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.75, for a total transaction of $781,474.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,771,522.75. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total value of $442,112.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,224,675.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 290,212 shares of company stock valued at $96,639,685 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Yorkville Ives started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $360.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. DZ Bank lowered Apple from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $343.74.

Apple Trading Down 0.6%

AAPL stock opened at $348.56 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $337.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.42 and a 52-week high of $355.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.04%.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple's devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.

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