Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Sovran Advisors LLC

Sovran Advisors LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,126 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.3% of Sovran Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Sovran Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Evansbrook LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Advocate Investing Services LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC now owns 7,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple News Roundup

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.61.

Apple Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $319.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $315.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.34. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.