Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock: Secure Asset Management LLC Increases Stake

Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,699 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,977 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.8% of Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $182,897,769,000 after buying an additional 28,321,085 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $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 worth $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total transaction of $442,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,288 shares in the company, valued at $13,224,675.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,615,190.20. This trade represents a 25.32% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 289,252 shares of company stock worth $96,301,063 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 5.3%

AAPL stock opened at $349.51 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.42 and a twelve month high of $354.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $334.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $380.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Apple from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.51.

Trending Headlines about 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

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.