Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Parthenon LLC

Parthenon LLC lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 125,595 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Parthenon LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avenir Tech Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Ironwood Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 822.7% in the second quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC now owns 292,493 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 260,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $118,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Timothy D. Cook sold 191,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total value of $63,846,078.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. This trade represents a 5.55% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 290,212 shares of company stock valued at $96,639,685. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Guggenheim set a $400.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $347.11.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are a few of the latest headlines about AAPL:

• Positive Sentiment: China Renaissance upgraded Apple to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $425, citing growth potential from Apple’s first foldable iPhone. The bullish outlook helped support shares. Analyst raises Apple price target to $425
• Positive Sentiment: Reports point to strong iPhone demand and a record quarterly revenue result, while the foldable iPhone could provide a new growth opportunity. A faster Siri AI roadmap may also strengthen Apple’s longer-term product story.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling out Gemini Live on Apple CarPlay, bringing another conversational AI option to iPhone users’ cars. This adds functionality to the CarPlay platform, though it also highlights competition for Apple’s own assistant. Google brings Gemini Live to Apple CarPlay

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $355.63 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $337.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $355.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given 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 12.04%.

About Apple

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple’s devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.