Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,900,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 283,300 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.2% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Apple were worth $989,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.40.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of earnings. Analysts expect continued strength in iPhone and Services revenue, while Goldman Sachs raised its price target and projected outperformance in iPhone and Mac sales. Options activity also indicates expectations for a substantial post-earnings move. Goldman raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: Apple launched Apple Upgrade, a U.S. leasing program powered by Klarna. Customers can lease iPhones, Macs, iPads and Apple Watches through monthly payments, including iPhone plans starting at $17.99. The program could improve affordability, support upgrade frequency and broaden access to Apple’s hardware ecosystem. Apple launches US device leasing program with Klarna
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s privacy positioning is receiving favorable attention after users’ seemingly private Claude AI conversations appeared in Google search results. The publicity may reinforce Apple’s privacy brand, although the direct financial impact is unclear. Claude chats exposed in Google searches
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks are elevated. KeyBanc remains bearish, citing slowing unit and user growth, while Apple’s premium earnings multiple leaves limited room for an earnings or outlook disappointment. Investors will closely watch iPhone demand, Services growth, margins and management commentary during Tim Cook’s final earnings call as CEO. Apple earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory and component costs could pressure hardware margins, particularly if tariffs restrict Apple’s access to lower-cost Chinese suppliers. Separately, a lawsuit alleges that a fraudulent Bitcoin wallet app on the App Store caused about $1.8 million in losses, creating a modest App Store oversight and reputational risk. Memory tariffs and Apple margins

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $340.08 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $308.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.18. The company has a market cap of $4.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $342.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Apple Company Profile

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.