L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 233,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,205 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.0% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $63,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crown Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 31,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,414 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC now owns 16,921 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. APS Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. APS Management Group Inc. now owns 26,485 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,200,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. now owns 7,732 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 11,232,447 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,042,480,000 after purchasing an additional 80,689 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price target on Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly planning a broad set of AI features for iOS 27, including writing help, app shortcuts, and other Siri enhancements, signaling a stronger product roadmap for the next iPhone cycle.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple’s revamped Siri may lean on Google Gemini suggest Apple is willing to use outside AI to accelerate its assistant overhaul, which could improve competitive positioning faster than building everything in-house. Apple’s Next-Gen Siri App May Lean Heavily on Google’s AI
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary highlighted Apple’s services business as a potential earnings engine, with some analysts seeing a path to higher EPS if the ecosystem continues to expand.
• Positive Sentiment: Hedge-fund interest also remains supportive, with Viking Global reportedly opening a fresh Apple stake worth nearly $1 billion, reinforcing institutional confidence in the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s upcoming WWDC is expected to center on AI integration, but it is still a preview event rather than a revenue event, so the near-term impact depends on how compelling the announcements are. Apple Reveals Dates of Tim Cook’s Final WWDC as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Social chatter around satellite connectivity and other hardware upgrades points to continued innovation interest, but these themes are longer-term and less likely to move the stock immediately.
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is facing renewed regulatory pressure after an Indian court ordered the company to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding another legal overhang for investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is discounting iPhone 17 models in China highlight ongoing competition and margin pressure in a critical market, which could temper enthusiasm if price cuts deepen.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $297.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $303.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $266.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.