Trust Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Trust Asset Management LLC reduced its Apple stake by 2.7% in the second quarter, selling 4,448 shares and retaining 163,144 shares valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 67.73% of Apple.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Apple receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $330.53; targets include $365 from RBC and $380 from Bank of America.
• Apple reported quarterly EPS of $2.02, beating estimates of $1.89, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion. Shares opened at $316.83, and the company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Trust Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,144 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,448 shares during the quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Trinity Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the second quarter. Trinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,266 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 16,970 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,910,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Balefire LLC increased its stake in Apple by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 28,714 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,309,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the period. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,217 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,956,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Tlwm raised its position in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tlwm now owns 15,462 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,474,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.75, for a total value of $442,852.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 40,107 shares in the company, valued at $12,342,929.25. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.53.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $316.83 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.78 and a 12-month high of $344.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $309.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $286.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and bullish outlook: Rothschild & Co. Redburn upgraded Apple from “Neutral” to “Buy” and raised its price target to $400, implying substantial upside. Morgan Stanley also identified Apple among large-cap technology stocks showing a bullish technical signal. Apple stock upgrade and price target
• Positive Sentiment: Apple positioned as an AI and volatility hedge: Analysts argue that Apple’s restrained AI infrastructure spending limits capital-expenditure and valuation risk relative to peers committing hundreds of billions of dollars to AI. Some investors also view Apple as an underappreciated AI beneficiary through its installed base and potential improvements to Siri. Apple's low AI spending
• Positive Sentiment: Macro support: Retreating Treasury yields helped restore demand for mega-cap technology stocks, while Apple showed relative strength even as semiconductor shares and parts of the technology sector weakened. Apple stock and Treasury yields
• Positive Sentiment: Product optionality: Reports that a future foldable iPhone could support an estimated 11% increase in average iPhone prices provide a potential catalyst for revenue and margin growth, although the product remains unannounced. Apple foldable iPhone outlook

Apple Company 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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