WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 9,868 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• WASHINGTON TRUST Co. reduced its Apple stake by 9,868 shares, or 1.8%, in Q3, but still held 524,233 shares valued at about $174.6 million; Apple remains its largest portfolio position.
• Analyst views are mixed, though the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $347.11; recent coverage includes a downgrade to Sell from DZ Bank.
• Apple beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 11.7% year over year, while higher memory-chip costs have raised concerns about pressure on margins.

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 524,233 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 9,868 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.3% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings, making the stock its largest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings in Apple were worth $174,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avenir Tech Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ironwood Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $376,168,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $118,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $303.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. BTIG Research started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. DZ Bank lowered Apple from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $347.11.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Timothy D. Cook sold 191,753 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total value of $63,846,078.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,264,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 292,611 shares of company stock valued at $97,482,597 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Apple News

Investors following AAPL have been watching these news items:

• Neutral Sentiment: Google is bringing its Gemini assistant to Apple CarPlay, adding a new AI feature for iPhone users. The partnership may improve CarPlay’s utility, though the assistant is Google’s service rather than Apple’s. Google Brings Gemini Live to Apple CarPlay
• Negative Sentiment: Higher memory-chip prices are a near-term margin risk. Apple’s December-quarter gross-margin outlook was reported below analyst expectations, despite record quarterly sales, raising concerns that component costs could weigh on profitability. Why Apple Stock Fell Despite a Record Quarter
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and investors view AAPL as expensive after its strong run, while recent coverage shows disagreement on the outlook, including a DZ Bank downgrade to Sell. Rich valuation leaves less room for disappointment. Apple Shares Look Expensive Heading into 2027

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $354.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.42 and a 1-year high of $359.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $338.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.56.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.04%.

About Apple

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple's devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.

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