Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by WestEnd Advisors LLC

WestEnd Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,961 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,220 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $51,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Capstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,537 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Beddow Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.70.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple will revamp Siri into a built?in AI chatbot (ties to Google’s Gemini) reinforce an AI product roadmap that could drive services and device differentiation. This underpins investor hopes for meaningful product-led growth. Apple to revamp Siri as a built-in chatbot
• Positive Sentiment: Data and coverage showing Apple regained the top smartphone share in China and strong iPhone 17 demand suggest better-than-feared hardware revenue in the quarter, supporting revenue growth and ASPs. Apple’s Huge Surge in China
• Positive Sentiment: Chip/assembly supply diversification: Pegatron expects its first U.S. factory to be completed by end?March with trial production soon after — a step toward geographic diversification of iPhone assembly that reduces concentration risk and political/tariff exposure. Apple and Dell supplier Pegatron expects US plant to be completed by end of March
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and outlets are leaning bullish ahead of Jan. 29 earnings (buy?the?dip takeaways, Evercore/other supports). Positive analyst notes and talk of an asymmetric risk/reward into earnings are helping sentiment. Should You Buy Apple Stock Before Earnings on January 29?
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are the immediate catalyst — previews and models (Zacks, Seeking Alpha) highlight potential upside but also list accounting and mix items to watch; results will likely move the stock more than headlines. Apple Reports Next Week
• Neutral Sentiment: Moves to bring Apple Pay to India and new partners launching on Apple Pay (Funding Circle) are longer?term growth drivers for services monetization but are execution/timing dependent. Apple Prepares to Bring Apple Pay to India
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk in India: Apple asked an Indian court to block the antitrust agency from seeking global financials — an escalation that can prolong regulatory uncertainty and potential fines or remedies. Apple asks Indian court to stop antitrust body from seeking its financials
• Negative Sentiment: Promotional discounts in China (up to ¥1,000 on select products) could signal competitive pricing pressure or the need to stimulate demand in the near term — a potential margin/headline risk. Apple China to offer discounts of up to 1,000 yuan on some products

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $248.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.53. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

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.