Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock: Ledyard National Bank Cuts Stake

Ledyard National Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 216,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,037 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.7% of Ledyard National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $72,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Timothy D. Cook sold 191,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total transaction of $63,846,078.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. This represents a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,832,236.98. This represents a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 290,212 shares of company stock valued at $96,639,685 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Citic Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $349.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.74.

Apple News Roundup

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

Apple Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $348.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.42 and a 1 year high of $355.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be 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 is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.04%.

About Apple

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.