Yarbrough Capital LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,696,980 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 47,855 shares during the period. Apple comprises 15.7% of Yarbrough Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Yarbrough Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $565,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Prospect Hill Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $146,370,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $168,646,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $482,388,000. Satovsky Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $16,064,000. Finally, Gouws Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 136.9% in the third quarter. Gouws Capital LLC now owns 37,504 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,490,000 after buying an additional 21,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record September-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year, and EPS of $2.10, beating analyst estimates. Strong iPhone demand—iPhone revenue rose 17.5%—and Mac sales helped drive the results. Apple Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, iPhone Drives Top-Line Growth
- Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating, arguing that investors should look beyond near-term margin pressure to Apple’s longer-term opportunity. Buy Apple Stock After Earnings, Says Bank of America
- Negative Sentiment: The main pressure is Apple’s forecast for a 45%–46% gross margin in the holiday quarter, below the recent quarter’s 47.9%. Management cited sharply higher memory-chip costs and spending tied to Siri AI; investors worry these expenses will limit profit growth even with strong sales. Apple Shares Slide as Higher Memory Costs Fuel Margin Concerns
- Negative Sentiment: Investors also saw softer signals beneath the headline beat: services growth is expected to slow, China revenue missed expectations, and higher component costs are being accompanied by increased inventory and supplier commitments. The stock’s premium valuation may make it more vulnerable if growth or margins disappoint. Apple Growth, Margins Likely Face Pressure in 2027, UBS Says
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.28.
View Our Latest Report on Apple
Apple Trading Down 1.9%
NASDAQ AAPL opened at $331.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $351.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $334.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 128.88% and a net margin of 27.60%. The firm had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 12.39%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total transaction of $480,309.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,051,831.95. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% 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 have sold a total of 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Company Profile
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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