Westshore Wealth LLC Sells 8,699 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Westshore Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 31.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,859 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,699 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of Westshore Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Westshore Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JMG Financial Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted 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 worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.0% during the first quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,902,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.75, for a total transaction of $442,852.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,342,929.25. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $305.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.78 and a twelve month high of $344.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.19. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly training a China-specific large language model with Alibaba’s support. The initiative could bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese users, improve Apple’s competitive position against Huawei and reduce reliance on third-party AI models in a key market. Apple trains China-specific AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Apple opened an advanced manufacturing center in Houston that will support AI-server production, Mac mini assembly and workforce training. The facility reinforces Apple’s U.S. investment plans and may improve supply-chain resilience and relations with policymakers. Apple opens Houston manufacturing facility
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly received about $2.2 billion in tariff refunds. The cash recovery could offset some trade-related expenses and support near-term earnings and cash flow. Apple tariff refund report
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is discussing usage-based content agreements with publishers to improve the upgraded Siri’s access to current information. A stronger Siri could help narrow Apple’s perceived AI gap and support future services growth. Apple publisher talks for Siri
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple proposed a 15% commission on purchases made through external links in iOS apps amid its continuing legal dispute with Epic. The proposal could preserve some App Store revenue, but the final regulatory and legal outcome remains uncertain. Apple proposes external purchase commission
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s valuation remains demanding, with a market capitalization near $4.5 trillion and a forward earnings outlook that leaves the stock sensitive to execution. An insider sale by SVP Jennifer Newstead was disclosed, though such transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in corporate fundamentals. Apple insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple, citing concerns about the canceled or delayed all-glass iPhone concept, limited near-term AI momentum and rising memory-chip costs. Higher component prices could pressure margins and make it harder for Apple to justify its premium valuation. Jefferies Apple downgrade and iPhone concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s Pixel 11 is placing Gemini more deeply into the smartphone experience, raising the competitive stakes for Apple ahead of the iPhone 18 launch and Siri’s broader overhaul.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. China Renaissance downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.60.

Apple 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.