Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its stake in the tech giant in the fourth quarter
The shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are modestly higher in early trading, even after a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing revealed Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) trimmed its stake in the tech giant by 1.1% to 249.6 million shares in the fourth quarter, though none of the selling was at the hands of Buffett. Amid broad-market tailwinds, AAPL was last seen up 0.4% at $171.54.
On the charts, Apple stock has rebounded since its Jan. 3 22-month low of $142.00, though this rally has recently stalled out near $175 -- home to its Dec. 6 bear gap. Still, the shares are up 8.3% year-to-date, and are pacing toward their sixth straight weekly win, the longest such streak since early 2017.
Digging deeper, now may be a prime time for those looking to trade Apple's short-term trajectory to do so with options. AAPL's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 22% ranks in the 20th annual percentile, meaning short-term options are relatively cheap at the moment, from a volatility perspective.
Plus, the FAANG stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at a lofty 95 out of a possible 100. This indicates Apple has handily exceeded options traders' volatility expectations in the past year -- a key to maximizing the benefit of leverage.