Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Lowers Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors cut its Apple position by 3.5% in the second quarter, selling 1,931 shares and retaining 53,924 shares worth approximately $15.6 million. Apple remains the fund’s largest holding, representing 10.8% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 67.73%, with Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America and Legal & General initiating sizable positions, while Nuveen and Amundi increased their holdings.
• Apple’s outlook is mixed: analysts expect support from its fall product cycle and strong earnings growth, but concerns include a $5.7 billion patent verdict, rising component costs, AI threats to App Store services and a premium valuation. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $340.02.

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,924 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,931 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 10.8% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors' holdings in Apple were worth $15,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $30,443,242,000. Nuveen LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $20,389,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Apple by 23.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is launching new safeguards designed to protect its devices from probing AI agents. The move may strengthen user trust and help preserve Apple’s security-focused ecosystem as agentic AI becomes more prominent. Apple Launches New Safeguards Against AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: The fall product cycle remains a near-term tailwind. Morgan Stanley modestly raised its revenue forecast after Apple’s launches, while Counterpoint reportedly expects about 6 million sales of the $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo this year. New Apple Watch health features and potential smart-home products could also broaden the company’s ecosystem. Apple’s Fall Product Cycle Could Support Revenue Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintained an Overweight rating but lowered its price target to $355 from $360. Higher memory and component costs, along with possible iPhone pricing pressure, are offsetting much of the expected product-revenue benefit. Morgan Stanley Adjusts Price Target on Apple
• Negative Sentiment: A jury’s $5.7 billion patent verdict against Apple has raised concerns about potential ongoing royalties and pressure on hardware margins. Apple’s $5.7 Billion Patent Verdict Raises a Bigger Royalty Question
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain worried that AI agents from rivals such as Meta could bypass the App Store and weaken Apple’s high-margin services business. Analysts also see limited upside after Apple’s strong run and its relatively rich valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares valued at approximately $806,496, reducing her direct holdings by 5.4%. The transaction is small relative to her remaining stake but adds modest insider-selling pressure. Apple Insider Transaction Filing

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.02.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $333.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.27, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50 day moving average is $322.16 and its 200 day moving average is $300.01. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.42 and a 52-week high of $345.34.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid 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 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.18, for a total value of $806,495.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,116,870.56. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 13,430 shares of company stock valued at $4,342,255 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

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