Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Lifted by Secure Asset Management LLC

Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,699 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,977 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.8% of Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 28,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,547,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Peirce Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Peirce Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 105,218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,040,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.7% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 35,220 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,729,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tanager Wealth Management LLP raised its stake in Apple by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 69,765 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $340.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.51.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. The trade was a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total transaction of $442,112.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,224,675.20. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock valued at $96,301,063 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Post-election relief helped lift major technology stocks, including Apple, as investors saw reduced near-term uncertainty. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reached a record high amid signs of renewed demand. Investors are also weighing the rollout of Apple Intelligence in China, which could help close a competitive gap in a major market. Invezz article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reducing employee budgets for AI tools as it seeks to manage expenses, while reported research costs have climbed 32%. Cost control may help, but the spending trend underscores the expense of competing in AI. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory prices remain a key risk to profitability: Apple expects higher component costs to pressure holiday-quarter gross margins, and its manufacturing purchase commitments have increased. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margin concerns persist despite the rally; DZ Bank downgraded Apple to sell, citing a $300 price target. MarketBeat ratings

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $349.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $354.50.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.39%.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.