Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Reduced by Absher Wealth Management LLC

Absher Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,322 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.5% of Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.40.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap leadership and momentum: Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s largest company as Nvidia shares declined. The move reinforces investor confidence in Apple’s resilient consumer business and has made AAPL a relative outperformer among major technology stocks. Apple ends day as world’s most valuable company, passing Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings optimism: Apple reports results on July 30, with analysts expecting continued iPhone demand, Services growth, and potentially strong Mac revenue. Goldman Sachs raised its price target and expects performance above consensus on iPhone and Mac sales, while Bank of America anticipates a Services-driven earnings beat. Goldman Raises Apple Stock Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investor positioning: Options activity indicates traders are preparing for a sizable upward move following earnings. The stock has risen about 20% from its late-June low, reflecting elevated expectations for the report and Apple’s product ecosystem. Apple options are doing something unusual into earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Future product catalysts: Apple is reportedly emphasizing privacy as it develops smart glasses for a potential 2027 launch, while investors continue to speculate about a foldable iPhone and incoming CEO John Ternus’s ability to drive the next major product cycle. Apple Puts Privacy at Center of Smart Glasses Push
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns: Investors remain divided over Apple’s comparatively restrained AI spending and strategy, particularly as rivals commit hundreds of billions of dollars to AI infrastructure. A disappointing outlook or evidence that Apple is falling behind could pressure the stock after its strong run. Apple Is Barely Spending on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and component-cost risks: At roughly 41 times earnings, Apple has limited room for an earnings miss. Potential tariffs and higher memory-chip prices could increase iPhone production costs and compress hardware margins, although Apple is reportedly seeking permission to use Chinese memory components in international devices. Apple stock and memory-cost analysis

Apple Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $336.91 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.61. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.50 and a fifty-two week high of $339.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.