North Growth Management Ltd. Sells 3,000 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

North Growth Management Ltd. reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.5% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $290,506,933,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141,995 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. CLSA lifted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.70.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Apple is developing a small AI wearable (a pin with cameras and microphones), highlighting a potential new hardware category and another touchpoint for on?device AI integration. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report Apple will revamp Siri into a full?blown AI chatbot (targeted for iOS 27 and WWDC), which could materially boost Services stickiness and user engagement if execution matches expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is preparing to launch Apple Pay in India this year, a meaningful long?term payments expansion into a large addressable market if regulatory talks succeed. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Evercore and other firms have reiterated bullish views and raised price targets (Evercore’s $330 and higher targets from peers), which underpins the buy?the?dip narrative. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: A MarketBeat analysis argues the recent pullback looks stretched and technically oversold, framing earnings as a potential catalyst for a sharp rebound if Apple posts another beat. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings are a near?term catalyst — Apple’s Q1 results (late January) are the primary event investors are positioning for; outcomes could drive volatility in either direction. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical risk and recent headlines (tariff threats and risk?off flows) triggered a sharp sell?off in recent sessions, which pressured shares despite upgrades — a reminder that external shocks can overwhelm company?specific positives. Read More.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL opened at $247.65 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $270.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.54.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The business’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 earned $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.