Deirdre O’brien Sells 30,002 Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $255.92 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $260.67 and a 200 day moving average of $263.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.58.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st 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 period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Top investor endorsement — Billionaire Ken Griffin lists Apple among his five best stock picks, highlighting institutional conviction and potential buying support. 5 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Ken Griffin
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing — Bank of America reiterates a Buy and cites accelerating services growth and on‑device AI upside, supporting a premium valuation thesis and positive analyst flow. Apple: Accelerating Services Growth and On‑Device AI Upside Support Premium Valuation and Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. manufacturing boost — Apple expands its U.S. manufacturing program with a reported $400M investment, a politically favorable move that can reduce supply risk and support margin/PR. Apple Inc. (AAPL) expands US manufacturing program with $400M investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive narrative around Apple at 50 — Extensive coverage of Apple’s 50th anniversary reminds investors of the company’s long-term durability, but raises governance/succession questions that are medium‑term rather than catalytic. Apple At 50 Weighs AI Partnerships Satellite Ties And Succession
• Neutral Sentiment: AI positioning debate — Coverage highlights a strategic pivot toward opening Siri to third‑party AI assistants and other AI moves; this reduces long-term AI execution risk but timing and monetization remain uncertain. Apple’s AI Strategy Is Pivoting. Here’s Why That Could Be Great News for the Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Satellite dependency risk — Reports that Amazon is in talks to buy Globalstar (Apple’s satellite partner for Emergency SOS/messaging) raise competitive and supply‑chain uncertainty for Apple’s satellite features. Amazon Lines Up Deal to Rival SpaceX’s Starlink: Report. Why Apple Could Be a Problem.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation pressure — Commentary points to a rich trailing and forward P/E (high 20s–30s) that’s prompting profit‑taking and making AAPL sensitive to any slowdown in growth or disappointment on AI execution. Is Apple Stock Overvalued Or Undervalued?
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical / macro risk — Headlines about potential targeting of U.S. tech firms and broader Mag‑7 weakness amplify downside risk if tensions or macro selloffs persist. AAPL Stock on Watch: Iran Threatens Retaliatory Strikes Could Hit Apple Next

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.