Milestone Asset Management LLC Purchases 22,567 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,567 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.7% of Milestone Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Milestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $182,897,769,000 after acquiring an additional 28,321,085 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple unveiled its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, featuring tandem OLED technology, up to 2,000-nit brightness, 120Hz refresh rates, and higher-end M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The launch could support Mac revenue, premium pricing and a broader hardware upgrade cycle. Apple Stock: Slip Despite MacBook Pro Launch With Tandem OLED Display
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains a modest tailwind. Monness, Crespi, Hardt raised its Apple price target to $355, while early iPhone 18 Pro sales were reportedly 3.1% above the prior model, including particularly strong growth in China. Wall Street Analyst Updates Apple Stock Target Ahead of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is approaching its November 2 earnings report after a lengthy run of earnings beats. Investors are looking for evidence that iPhone demand, services growth and artificial-intelligence initiatives can justify a valuation near 40 times earnings. Seeking Clues to Apple Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: The touchscreen MacBook Pro starts at approximately $2,899, raising concerns that premium pricing could limit adoption. Investors also face broader pressure from rising memory costs, expensive technology valuations and potentially higher interest rates. Apple’s Touchscreen MacBook Pro Pushes Laptop Pricing Higher
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is offering replacements after reports that screens on its $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo cracked near the hinge. The issue threatens customer confidence and could increase warranty or recall costs just as the company launches a major new product category. Apple Shows First Touchscreen Laptops Amid Product Blitz
• Negative Sentiment: South Korea fined Apple and Google a combined $47.6 million for allegedly forcing developers toward their payment systems and delaying app reviews, adding to regulatory risks around Apple’s services business. South Korea Fines Google and Apple Over App Market Practices

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $340.59.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $343.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.43, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.42 and a 1 year high of $351.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $331.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total value of $480,309.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,539 shares in the company, valued at $6,051,831.95. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total value of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% 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 a total of 286,853 shares of company stock worth $95,477,342 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.