Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Raised by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 582,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,427 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.6% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Apple were worth $158,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Overbrook Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,446 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 734,485 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $187,022,000 after acquiring an additional 27,445 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.37.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target and reiterated a bullish outlook ahead of Q2, citing strong iPhone and Services momentum — a clear analyst catalyst supporting upside expectations. Apple price target raised ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call buying: traders purchased ~1.03M Apple calls (?24% above typical daily call volume), signaling short?term bullish positioning that can amplify intraday gains.
• Positive Sentiment: Product catalysts — reports on Apple’s imminent foldable iPhone and recent product announcements keep a tangible growth story intact (new hardware can lift ASPs and Services engagement). Apple’s Foldable iPhone Foray
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon’s acquisition of Globalstar reshapes Apple’s satellite dependence — it creates near?term uncertainty (a critical vendor now controlled by a competitor) but also a potential catalyst if Apple elects to accelerate its own satellite strategy or strike new partnerships. Apple Sends an SOS
• Neutral Sentiment: AI narrative and positioning: multiple pieces flag rising investor focus on Apple’s AI approach versus peers — positive long?term but execution and timing remain uncertain, so this is more of a watch?item than an immediate earnings lever. Apple: More Attention On AI Strategy
• Negative Sentiment: App?store security incident: a fake Ledger app that stole ~$9.5M highlighted review gaps and raises regulatory/PR risk around App Store oversight (Apple removed the app, but incidents like this can drive scrutiny). Apple removes fake Ledger app
• Negative Sentiment: Store closures including a unionized location drew criticism and union?busting claims — reputational and workforce risks are remote to revenue but could attract regulatory or headline pressure. Apple closing 3 stores

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 Up 2.9%

Apple stock opened at $266.43 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $189.81 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $260.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11.

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, 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 company had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.