Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Sells 2,929 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 270,849 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,929 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.7% of Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its stake in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 41.0% during the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $281.70.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $248.04 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $269.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs urges buying the dip ahead of Apple’s Jan. 29 earnings, citing expected robust iPhone sales — a near-term analyst push that can drive short-term inflows. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat argues Apple’s recent sell-off may be overdone and highlights extreme technical oversold signals plus strong fundamentals and buyback support — this framing can attract value buyers ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s AI roadmap (Siri chatbot/Campos integration and reports of an AI wearable pin) remains a growth narrative investors are rewarding; new AI features could lift services and hardware ASPs over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership signal — Apple broadened hardware chief John Ternus’s remit to include design work, underlining succession planning and operational continuity (a governance/continuity positive for long-term holders). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain/localization update: Pegatron (Apple supplier) expects its first U.S. plant to be completed by end-March with trial production to follow — supports resilience and potential tariff/production flexibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI reaffirmed an Outperform on AAPL ahead of earnings, adding to institutional buy-side conviction that could underpin the stock into results. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF concentration note — large passive funds (e.g., iShares OEF) hold elevated AAPL weightings; that increases index-driven flows but also concentration risk for funds. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term performance pieces and retrospectives (e.g., what $1k in AAPL looks like today) provide sentiment/context but are unlikely to move the stock near-term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: Apple asked an Indian court to block the antitrust regulator from seeking global financial records in an app-store probe — the investigation itself is a headline regulatory risk that could weigh on sentiment until resolved. Read More.

Apple Company 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.