Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lowered by Lee Financial Co

Lee Financial Co cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 66,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 48,244 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.4% of Lee Financial Co’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.83.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone momentum and share gains support revenue upside — reports say Apple reclaimed the top global smartphone slot in the March quarter, which underpins expectations for continued hardware-led top‑line strength. iPhone 17 shipment story
• Positive Sentiment: Services growth and App Store moves could lift recurring revenue — Services jumped ~14% Y/Y in fiscal Q1 and Apple rolled out a cheaper, 12‑month-commitment monthly subscription option to boost retention and ARPU. Services growth article App Store subscription change
• Positive Sentiment: Street upgrades and modest estimate bumps ahead of earnings — UBS and some analysts raised targets and Erste edged FY26 EPS forecasts up, increasing the bar for a beat/guide‑up reaction. UBS price target lift
• Neutral Sentiment: Scheduled earnings and macro prints are the immediate catalyst — Q2 results (Apr 30 after close) and April PCE/GDP/Fed commentary this week increase short‑term volatility and make the print the main market mover. Earnings and economic calendar preview
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO succession to John Ternus is being priced in — investors are parsing his engineering/product focus (longer-term positive) versus near‑term execution risk during the transition. Ternus CEO succession piece
• Negative Sentiment: Competition on AI-first phones (Qualcomm + OpenAI/MediaTek) is pressuring sentiment — reports that rivals are building AI-native chips have led to rotation into chipmakers and increased worry about Apple’s on‑device AI roadmap. Qualcomm/OpenAI competition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal uncertainty on the App Store persists — Epic’s recent procedural win keeps the external‑payments environment unsettled, which could affect Services economics and developer relations. Epic Games / App Store legal update
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing criticism that Apple lags on AI execution — multiple pieces argue Apple needs a visible AI breakthrough; that narrative is increasing downside risk if the earnings/guide don’t show clear AI monetization progress. Apple AI execution concern
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling flagged — a recent SEC filing shows a sale by a senior finance executive, which can amplify short‑term nervousness even if the size is modest. SEC Form 4

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $270.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.25 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $260.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.