T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,868,326 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,466,197 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,868,326 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.8% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Apple worth $4,476,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating on Apple and kept a $380 price target, citing Apple’s pricing power, strong supply-chain position, and ability to manage rising memory costs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: President Trump said Apple will work with Intel to design and build chips in the U.S., raising hopes for a domestic supply-chain boost and stronger strategic positioning for Apple. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said Apple is relatively well positioned to weather the AI-driven memory shortage because of its scale, inventory, and supplier relationships, which may help protect hardware margins. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple reportedly plans to raise prices across its product lineup, which could support margins but may also weigh on consumer demand if the increases are too large. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is also reportedly developing new AI wearables and a foldable iPhone for 2027, which supports the long-term product pipeline but is unlikely to affect near-term earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Italy opened a Digital Markets Act probe into Apple’s cloud interoperability practices, adding another regulatory risk for the company in Europe. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $298.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $288.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.80. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

About Apple

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.