Key Points
- Apple CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares at an average price of $332.94, generating approximately $8.46 million. The transaction reduced his direct ownership by 29.9% and was made to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.
- Apple recently reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion and EPS of $2.02, exceeding analyst expectations.
- Apple shares opened at $332.89, near their 12-month high, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $340.02.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total transaction of $8,460,671.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.
Apple Trading Down 0.2%
Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $332.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $322.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.42 and a 12-month high of $345.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.07.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.
Institutional Trading of Apple
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $182,897,769,000 after buying an additional 28,321,085 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $30,443,242,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $20,389,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,121 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Apple News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned Siri overhaul could help restore investor confidence in its AI capabilities. The bullish case also rests on record Services revenue, a strong iPhone cycle and recent fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, with EPS rising 29%. Will Siri Overhaul Help Apple Restore Its AI Credibility?
- Positive Sentiment: Apple is tightening Mac full-disk access controls to make AI-agent data requests more visible to users. The move may strengthen the company’s privacy differentiation as concerns grow about autonomous AI tools accessing personal information. Apple Makes It Tougher for AI Agents to Access Macs
- Neutral Sentiment: CEO John Ternus, SVP Deirdre O’Brien and insider Timothy Cook collectively sold approximately $87.8 million of AAPL shares. Each filing said the transactions covered tax-withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards, making them less indicative of a negative outlook, although the sales may add short-term headline pressure. Apple Insider Filing
- Neutral Sentiment: Counterpoint expects roughly 6 million sales of Apple’s high-priced iPhone Duo this year, potentially representing at least $12 billion in hardware revenue. However, the late launch window and limited volume are not expected to materially change the broader AAPL investment case. Analyst Sees 6 Million iPhone Duo Sales
- Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Apple is behind rivals in AI monetization and execution. Comparisons suggesting Microsoft could surpass Apple in market value by 2027 reinforce worries that AAPL’s premium valuation requires substantial AI progress. Microsoft Could Become More Valuable Than Apple
- Negative Sentiment: More restrictive Mac permissions could reduce the usefulness of AI agents or create friction for developers, potentially complicating Apple’s effort to make its ecosystem a leading AI platform. With AAPL trading at a relatively high earnings multiple, execution concerns may weigh more heavily on the stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. CICC Research raised their price target on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered Apple from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.02.
Get Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
About Apple
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Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets 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 software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.
Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.
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