St. Clair Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,025 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 6.8% of St. Clair Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. St. Clair Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV boosted its position in Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 1,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the third quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. now owns 8,921 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 26.7% during the third quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 8,397 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. First County Bank CT lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 29,947 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Finally, Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 84,141 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,021,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Citic Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $349.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore set a $380.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Phillip Securities upped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $340.12.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total value of $480,309.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,051,831.95. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 286,853 shares of company stock valued at $95,477,342 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Key Stories Impacting Apple
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone Duo demand is the main catalyst. Preorders for the $1,999 foldable reportedly sold out quickly, with delivery dates extending into 2027. DigiTimes reported that Apple raised its 12-month shipment target by 44% to 14 million units, up from an initial 9.7 million. iPhone Duo preorder surge prompts Apple to raise shipment targets
- Positive Sentiment: The foldable launches Friday with supply constrained. Limited store inventory, combined with online backorders, could support near-term pricing power and signal meaningful demand for a new premium product category. Apple bets iPhone Duo can remake foldable market
- Positive Sentiment: Apple is increasingly viewed as an AI “safe haven.” Investors are favoring the company’s substantial cash generation and device-focused AI strategy over rivals committing enormous sums to centralized data centers. Berkshire Hathaway’s continued large Apple holding also reinforces the stock’s defensive appeal. Apple’s Cash Flow Machine Makes It Investors’ Favorite AI Hedge
- Positive Sentiment: Additional growth opportunities are emerging. Apple is expanding its smart-home ecosystem with Schneider Electric and has another product event scheduled for October 28, potentially providing further catalysts. Schneider Electric teams up with Apple on smart-home products
- Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains the key debate. Apple’s approximately 40 times earnings multiple and $5 trillion valuation leave investors dependent on strong holiday sales, expanding margins and sustained product growth. Analysts remain divided, with some projecting another major growth phase while others see limited upside.
- Negative Sentiment: Loop Capital downgraded AAPL to Hold over valuation and concerns about iPhone shipment prospects, creating a counterweight to the upbeat foldable-phone reports. Apple slips as Loop Capital downgrades on iPhone shipment concerns
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and ETF outflows add modest pressure. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares worth about $815,000, while reports also cited net ETF selling and additional insider transactions. These trades are relatively small compared with Apple’s size but may reinforce valuation concerns.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of Apple stock opened at $348.22 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $328.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $309.07. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.42 and a 1-year high of $348.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $5.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.93, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.07.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.39%.
About Apple
Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.
Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.
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