Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Cut by Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,387 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,707 shares during the period. Apple comprises 8.5% of Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $48,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $182,897,769,000 after acquiring an additional 28,321,085 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Apple by 23.2% during 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. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record September-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year, and EPS of $2.10, beating analyst estimates. Strong iPhone demand—iPhone revenue rose 17.5%—and Mac sales helped drive the results. Apple Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, iPhone Drives Top-Line Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating, arguing that investors should look beyond near-term margin pressure to Apple’s longer-term opportunity. Buy Apple Stock After Earnings, Says Bank of America
• Negative Sentiment: The main pressure is Apple’s forecast for a 45%–46% gross margin in the holiday quarter, below the recent quarter’s 47.9%. Management cited sharply higher memory-chip costs and spending tied to Siri AI; investors worry these expenses will limit profit growth even with strong sales. Apple Shares Slide as Higher Memory Costs Fuel Margin Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Investors also saw softer signals beneath the headline beat: services growth is expected to slow, China revenue missed expectations, and higher component costs are being accompanied by increased inventory and supplier commitments. The stock’s premium valuation may make it more vulnerable if growth or margins disappoint. Apple Growth, Margins Likely Face Pressure in 2027, UBS Says

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock worth $96,301,063. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $303.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Phillip Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued 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 a consensus price target of $343.28.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $331.90 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $334.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.13. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.42 and a 52-week high of $351.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 128.88% and a net margin of 27.60%. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

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.