SOL Capital Management CO Sells 3,903 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• SOL Capital Management cut its Apple stake by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,903 shares and leaving it with 44,900 shares worth about $12.2 million.
• Apple continues to attract strong institutional interest, with 67.73% of shares held by institutions, while several major firms recently increased or initiated large positions in the stock.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on Apple, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $310.31; recent headlines have focused on Apple’s AI plans and a possible Siri overhaul ahead of WWDC.

SOL Capital Management CO trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,900 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,903 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.1% of SOL Capital Management CO's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. SOL Capital Management CO's holdings in Apple were worth $12,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 20,464.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.31.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying agentic AI could strengthen Apple’s ecosystem and create meaningful new revenue opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple is preparing a major Siri overhaul for WWDC, including a new app-like experience designed to compete more directly with ChatGPT-style assistants, which could improve sentiment around Apple’s AI roadmap.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary continue to argue that Apple’s installed base, privacy controls, payments, and device ownership give it a strong position if AI assistants become a primary interface for search, commerce, and productivity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s stock is already near record territory, so some of the optimism around AI and WWDC may already be reflected in the share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles note that Apple is still viewed by parts of the market as an AI laggard versus rivals, and that its valuation is already rich, which could limit upside if WWDC disappoints.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple 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 owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $312.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $274.19 and a 200 day moving average of $269.76. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year high of $313.26. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

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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