SNS Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• SNS Financial Group LLC cut its Apple stake by 2.9% in Q4, selling 4,120 shares and ending with 137,617 shares valued at about $37.4 million.
• Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, with revenue up 16.6% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share from $0.26, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $310.31.

SNS Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,617 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,120 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.2% of SNS Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. SNS Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $37,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $312.06 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $195.07 and a one year high of $315.00. The company has a market cap of $4.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $275.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s upcoming WWDC is expected to showcase a major Siri AI overhaul and broader iOS AI upgrades, reinforcing expectations for a stronger AI product cycle. Apple to Unveil Siri’s AI Overhaul at June Conference
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are increasingly bullish that Apple’s ecosystem could benefit from agentic AI, with Bank of America reportedly lifting its price target and pointing to user identity, payments, and app access as key advantages. Bank of America Raises Its Apple Stock Price Target to $380. Agentic AI Could Be the Upside Driver.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces highlight Apple as a momentum stock and suggest Apple Intelligence could drive iPhone and Mac upgrades, which supports the case for further revenue growth. Apple Intelligence Drives Up iPhone & Mac Sales: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Leak-driven coverage around the iPhone 18 Pro’s rumored colors and camera changes is generating buzz, but it is too early to be a major fundamental stock driver. iPhone 18 Pro dummy units reveal four color options [Gallery] - 9to5Mac
• Negative Sentiment: Some technical commentary warns Apple is approaching long-term resistance and may need a consolidation period after a strong run, which could limit near-term upside. Apple (AAPL) Faces $355 Barrier at Top of Its Multi-Year Uptrend Structure

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.31.

About Apple

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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