Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 52.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,150 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.9% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 890.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Sept. 9 product event is generating significant interest under new CEO John Ternus, with expectations for new iPhones, an Apple Watch update and potentially the company’s first foldable iPhone. Citi estimates the foldable device could sell 7.3 million units despite a possible price above $2,000. Citi foldable iPhone sales forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter showed strong momentum, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year and earnings exceeding analyst expectations. Morgan Stanley has also suggested the foldable iPhone could contribute roughly $14 billion in December-quarter revenue if successfully launched. Morgan Stanley foldable iPhone estimate
• Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has succeeded Tim Cook as CEO, while Cook remains executive chairman. The transition offers continuity through a longtime Apple executive but raises questions about whether Ternus can accelerate Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy and sustain Cook-era growth. John Ternus becomes Apple CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate initial foldable iPhone production was only a few hundred units per day in late August. Tight quality controls and memory shortages could limit launch supply, delay purchases and prevent Apple from fully capturing expected demand. Foldable iPhone production hurdles
• Negative Sentiment: Memory costs have reportedly surged, potentially forcing Apple to raise iPhone prices, absorb lower margins or risk weaker demand. Jefferies has also downgraded AAPL amid skepticism about the foldable product’s market potential. iPhone memory cost concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over alleged unfair app-tracking rules and a separate BASF patent lawsuit involving facial-authentication technology, adding regulatory and litigation risk. Apple UK app-tracking lawsuit

Apple Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $319.97 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.95 and a 1 year high of $344.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $315.65 and a 200 day moving average of $290.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total transaction of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,872 shares of company stock worth $1,823,201. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.