Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Reduced by Old North State Wealth Management LLC

Old North State Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,993 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.3% of Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $182,897,769,000 after purchasing an additional 28,321,085 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Apple by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after buying an additional 13,780,080 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.75, for a total transaction of $781,474.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 29,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,771,522.75. The trade was a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. This trade represents a 25.32% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 290,212 shares of company stock worth $96,639,685 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Argus lifted their target price on Apple from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $350.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim set a $400.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $347.11.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Investors following AAPL have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports point to strong iPhone demand and a record quarterly revenue result, while the foldable iPhone could provide a new growth opportunity. A faster Siri AI roadmap may also strengthen Apple’s longer-term product story.
• Negative Sentiment: Memory-chip prices are creating a margin headwind. Apple’s December-quarter gross-margin outlook of 45%–46% was reported below analysts’ 46.3% expectation, tempering the positive impact of strong sales. Apple faces memory-cost pressure despite record quarter
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators argue the shares look expensive after a strong run, raising the risk that high expectations could limit further gains if growth or margins disappoint. Apple shares look expensive heading into 2027

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $355.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.65, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.42 and a 1-year high of $355.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $337.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Company Profile

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.