Rep. C. Scott Franklin Sells Off Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Representative C. Scott Franklin (Republican-Florida) recently sold shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). In a filing disclosed on September 17th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Apple stock on August 20th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “FIDELITY ROTH IRA” account.

Representative C. Scott Franklin also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) on 8/26/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) on 8/26/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) on 8/26/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Accenture (NYSE:ACN) on 8/26/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) on 8/20/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) on 8/20/2026.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $336.13 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $240.21 and a 52-week high of $344.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $320.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $20,389,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,632 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Phillip Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.14.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its Apple price target to $380 from $365 and maintained an outperform view. A survey of roughly 4,000 consumers indicated a potentially stronger-than-expected iPhone upgrade cycle and a higher average selling price. iPhone 18 Pro Hits Stores Today
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone 18 Pro sales are supported by carrier trade-in promotions. Bank of America said incentives can offset the $100 price increase, reducing the risk that higher prices will weaken demand. Apple’s iPhone 18 Lineup Keeps Bank of America Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s ecosystem is gaining additional reach. General Motors plans to restore Apple CarPlay after consumer backlash, while Apple is reportedly preparing an Apple Pay launch in India with Axis Bank. These developments could support services engagement and ecosystem adoption. GM Is Re-downloading Apple CarPlay
• Neutral Sentiment: Initial iPhone 18 Pro demand indicators are mixed. Quick-commerce shortages in India suggest strong localized demand, but UBS cited muted wait times in several major markets. Investors are also assessing whether customers may delay purchases for Apple’s roughly $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo. Apple iPhone 18 Seeing Muted Initial Wait Times
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include premium pricing, valuation and regulatory pressure. Analysts warn that expensive devices could limit adoption in price-sensitive markets such as India. More than 1,600 Italian Apple store employees also struck on launch day, while Apple continues to challenge a potential UK encryption backdoor order and faces European legal scrutiny. Italian Apple Store Employees Strike

About Representative Franklin

Scott Franklin (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Florida’s 18th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Franklin (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Florida’s 18th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Scott Franklin was born in Thomaston, Georgia. Franklin graduated from Lakeland High School. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 2000 and the U.S. Navy Reserve from 2000 to 2012.

Franklin earned a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy in 1986 and an M.B.A. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1994. Franklin’s career experience includes owning an insurance agency and working as a naval aviator with the U.S. Navy.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company’s ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.