Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 76,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,226 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.0% of Sepio Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $182,897,769,000 after acquiring an additional 28,321,085 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Apple by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple has held up better than many Big Tech peers and recently reached record territory, with investors appearing to favor its restrained AI infrastructure spending compared with peers’ heavy investment. That approach may help preserve cash and margins, though it also raises questions about its AI competitiveness. Apple Is Holding Strong While Big Tech Sells Off. Is It Next?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple Intelligence cleared a regulatory step for use on tablets and laptops in China, potentially expanding the service’s reach in a key market. Apple Intelligence registers with Chinese regulator
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly holding capital spending steady while rivals accelerate AI infrastructure investment. This could support cash generation, but investors may also question whether the company is investing enough to keep pace in AI. Apple holds capex steady as peers accelerate AI infrastructure buildout
• Negative Sentiment: Binance warned that an iOS vulnerability could allow malicious apps to access data from other apps, potentially exposing crypto-wallet keys and credentials. Uncertainty over affected versions and whether updates resolve the flaw could create security and reputational concerns. Binance warns iOS flaw could expose crypto wallet keys
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of worker deaths at an Indian supplier and an ensuing investigation raise potential supply-chain, operational and reputational risks as Apple expands manufacturing in India. Apple faces major supplier investigation after 3 worker deaths
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns and a reported memory-cost squeeze could pressure expectations. KeyCorp also cut its fiscal 2027 EPS forecast to $8.34 from $9.08 and maintains an Underweight rating with a $250 price target, well below the consensus forecast cited in the report. Apple Is Above $5 Trillion After Its First-Ever Close Above $350

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. DZ Bank downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Apple from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.01, for a total transaction of $796,491.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 39,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,145,271.93. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. This trade represents a 29.90% decrease in their position. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 290,212 shares of company stock valued at $96,639,685. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $348.56 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.42 and a 52-week high of $355.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $337.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 125.35%. The business had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.04%.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple’s devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.