Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Grandview Asset Management LLC

Grandview Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,545 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 24,390 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.1% of Grandview Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Grandview Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV increased its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 1,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Evansbrook LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Forward LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Forward LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,438,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $349.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $334.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.42 and a 1-year high of $354.50.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. 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 12.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 10th. China Renaissance downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. CICC Research raised their target price on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.51.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post-election relief helped lift major technology stocks, including Apple, as investors saw reduced near-term uncertainty. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reached a record high amid signs of renewed demand. Investors are also weighing the rollout of Apple Intelligence in China, which could help close a competitive gap in a major market. Invezz article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reducing employee budgets for AI tools as it seeks to manage expenses, while reported research costs have climbed 32%. Cost control may help, but the spending trend underscores the expense of competing in AI. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory prices remain a key risk to profitability: Apple expects higher component costs to pressure holiday-quarter gross margins, and its manufacturing purchase commitments have increased. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margin concerns persist despite the rally; DZ Bank downgraded Apple to sell, citing a $300 price target. MarketBeat ratings

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total transaction of $480,309.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,051,831.95. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock worth $96,301,063. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells 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 applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.