SWS Partners Invests $761,000 in Apple Inc. $AAPL

SWS Partners bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,631 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $761,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $35,551,000. McCartney Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $456,000. Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $7,626,000. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,306,000. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,182,612,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone Duo creates a potential new growth cycle. Apple’s $1,999 foldable iPhone, scheduled to arrive October 23, could drive upgrades, deepen ecosystem engagement and add a high-margin premium product category. Some analysts believe foldables could eventually account for 10% to 20% of iPhone revenue. How Wall Street viewed Apple's foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see renewed hardware momentum. Alongside the Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watch models, AirPods 5 and expanded Siri AI features. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target, supporting the bullish reaction. TD Cowen reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Carrier promotions could reduce sticker-price resistance. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are offering installment and trade-in incentives for the expensive Duo, potentially broadening access without an immediate industrywide price war. Wireless carrier promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided. Bank of America retained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $370, while Rosenblatt kept a Neutral rating and $303 target. The debate centers on Duo demand, supply constraints, valuation and the durability of the upgrade cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure remains the main risk. Apple raised iPhone Pro prices by $100, but memory and other component costs are rising rapidly. Management has already guided to lower gross margins, raising concerns that pricing may not fully offset higher costs. Apple margin pressure from memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and competition limit upside. Apple trades near the upper end of its historical earnings multiple, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung remain strong competitors in China and the foldable market.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a modest cautionary signal. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold approximately $456,000 of stock, reducing her direct holdings by about 4%, although she retains a substantial position.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $332.27 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $318.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.45. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.02 and a 1-year high of $344.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $4.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 12.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $304.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $334.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.23, for a total value of $456,176.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 34,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,897,484.96. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 7,310 shares of company stock worth $2,279,378 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company's ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.

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