4,729 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Purchased by Sentinel Advisory Group LLC

Sentinel Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,729 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,000. Apple accounts for approximately 0.6% of Sentinel Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.5% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,658,024 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,943,530,000 after buying an additional 1,028,263 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $780,569,000. Bollard Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 64,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 120,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,665,000 after acquiring an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 251.3% in the 1st quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 144,764 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,740,000 after purchasing an additional 103,558 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.44.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Planned CEO transition appears orderly. Tim Cook will step down in September and be succeeded by longtime Apple executive John Ternus, a veteran with experience dating back to the Steve Jobs era. Cook’s endorsement and Ternus’ familiarity with Apple’s products may reduce concerns about strategic disruption. Tim Cook Says There’s ‘No Better Person’ to Take Over at Apple
• Positive Sentiment: Core business momentum remains strong. Apple’s latest quarter exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up roughly 16% year over year. Broad iPhone, Mac and Services demand continues to support the bullish case. Tim Cook’s Last Quarter as CEO Was Apple’s Best June Quarter Ever
• Positive Sentiment: App Store monetization is holding up. App Store revenue increased slightly despite a 4% decline in iPhone and iPad downloads, as revenue per download rose 4.7%. This suggests continued pricing and engagement resilience in a key Services business. Apple App Store Revenue Ticks Up Despite Falling Downloads
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is seeking dismissal of Apple’s trade-secrets lawsuit. OpenAI denies misappropriating confidential information related to Apple’s consumer-hardware efforts. The filing does not resolve the dispute, leaving legal and competitive uncertainty in place. OpenAI Seeks Dismissal of Apple’s Trade Secrets Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term cost and growth pressures are weighing on sentiment. Rising memory prices, supply constraints and policy risks could pressure margins, while slower Services growth has prompted some firms to downgrade Apple to Hold or Moderate Sell. Apple’s Capex Strategy Worked But Other Pressures Are Mounting
• Negative Sentiment: Competition in emerging hardware is increasing. Samsung reported a 30% rise in foldable-device preorders, highlighting a market Apple has yet to enter. Investors may view future Apple foldables as an opportunity, but execution and timing remain uncertain. Samsung Foldable Preorders Jump 30%

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $313.33 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $219.25 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $309.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.42. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.93, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

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.