USA Financial Formulas Buys 3,427 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

USA Financial Formulas lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 48,957.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,434 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,427 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Apple were worth $872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.23, for a total value of $456,176.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 34,352 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,484.96. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 7,310 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,378 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone Duo creates a potential new growth cycle. Apple’s $1,999 foldable iPhone, scheduled to arrive October 23, could drive upgrades, deepen ecosystem engagement and add a high-margin premium product category. Some analysts believe foldables could eventually account for 10% to 20% of iPhone revenue. How Wall Street viewed Apple’s foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see renewed hardware momentum. Alongside the Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watch models, AirPods 5 and expanded Siri AI features. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target, supporting the bullish reaction. TD Cowen reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Carrier promotions could reduce sticker-price resistance. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are offering installment and trade-in incentives for the expensive Duo, potentially broadening access without an immediate industrywide price war. Wireless carrier promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided. Bank of America retained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $370, while Rosenblatt kept a Neutral rating and $303 target. The debate centers on Duo demand, supply constraints, valuation and the durability of the upgrade cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure remains the main risk. Apple raised iPhone Pro prices by $100, but memory and other component costs are rising rapidly. Management has already guided to lower gross margins, raising concerns that pricing may not fully offset higher costs. Apple margin pressure from memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and competition limit upside. Apple trades near the upper end of its historical earnings multiple, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung remain strong competitors in China and the foldable market.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a modest cautionary signal. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold approximately $456,000 of stock, reducing her direct holdings by about 4%, although she retains a substantial position.

Apple Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $332.27 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $229.02 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler started coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.91.

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company’s ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.