Auctus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,018 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $11,695,000. Apple accounts for 10.8% of Auctus Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position.
A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 110.9% during 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 last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Stock Down 2.1%
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.15%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stephens set a $315.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.23.
Read Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Trending Headlines about Apple
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple joined Anthropic, Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia in Project Glasswing, a security-focused AI collaboration—this underscores Apple’s participation in enterprise-grade AI/security initiatives and supports its strategy of privacy-integrated AI features. Anthropic Teams With Apple, Microsoft And Nvidia To Test Latest Cybersecurity Tech
- Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain evidence of an AI/hardware cycle is benefiting Apple’s ecosystem: Foxconn’s strong revenue tied to AI demand and reports of elevated Mac Mini orders for on-device AI support point to durable hardware demand beyond any single product. Foxconn Revenue Surges 30% Thanks To AI Boom
- Positive Sentiment: Apple’s MacBook Neo and continued strength in iPhone 17/Mac Mini sales provide alternative growth levers (ecosystem expansion, cheaper device top-of-funnel and high‑margin services), which help cushion the stock against hardware-specific setbacks. Apple’s stock could surge 20%, and the MacBook Neo could be a key catalyst
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street checks (KeyBanc, Evercore/others) note improving demand signals heading into earnings, which supports the view that near-term headline risk may be temporary versus structural revenue weakness. Is Apple Stock (AAPL) a Buy Ahead of Earnings as Demand Picks Up? KeyBanc Weighs In
- Neutral Sentiment: Bloomberg/TechCrunch reported the foldable iPhone is still targeted for a September launch—this counter-report helped intraday recovery and highlights mixed sourcing; investors must weigh Nikkei’s earlier claims vs. Bloomberg’s. Apple’s foldable iPhone is on track to launch in September, report says
- Neutral Sentiment: Apple filed to seek Supreme Court review in its long-running App Store dispute with Epic—potentially a material legal outcome over time, but an uncertain and prolonged process. Apple plans Supreme Court appeal in Epic Games App Store battle — again
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets (Nikkei, Reuters, Nikkei-sourced stories) reported engineering snags in the foldable iPhone’s testing—hinge and screen durability issues that could push shipments back months. That narrative is the primary near-term reason shares are lower as it threatens a major hardware catalyst. Apple’s foldable iPhone encounters engineering snags, faces potential shipment delays
- Negative Sentiment: China’s Supreme People’s Court upheld key AI patents for Xiao‑I in a dispute with Apple—this raises regulatory and IP risk in a critical market and has already moved investor attention to potential costs or feature limitations in China. Xiao-I (AIXI) Stock Explodes Over 500% Following Major Chinese Supreme Court Victory Against Apple
- Negative Sentiment: App Store growth has slowed (UBS flagged March quarter trends), and any sustained services cooling would pressure valuation since services underpin Apple’s margin resilience. Apple Holds Steady: UBS Keeps Neutral Rating as App Store Growth Slows to 7% in March Quarter
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.
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