Next Century Growth Investors LLC Purchases 7,824 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jun 16th, 2026

Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,824 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.5% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Apple by 890.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after acquiring an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $296.42 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $286.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.38.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.59.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Apple’s WWDC AI rollout could be the “first step” toward adding as much as $100 to the stock, as investors focus on the company’s AI execution and the potential for a stronger Siri/Apple Intelligence roadmap. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence suggest Apple is making progress on features that could improve older iPhones, expand software value, and strengthen the case for users to upgrade into the next product cycle. Article Title
Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms reiterating buy/overweight views and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing a bullish long-term sentiment on AAPL. Article Title
Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight Apple’s strong recent operating performance, including record iPhone demand and services revenue, but these are largely a rehash of prior earnings strength rather than a fresh catalyst. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance report says rising memory chip costs could pressure Apple’s hardware margins as AI features require more device memory, creating a potential headwind for profitability over the next few quarters. Article Title
Negative Sentiment: Broader sentiment is also being dampened by articles noting that the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, have been weak in June and have lagged the broader market at times, which can weigh on near-term momentum. Article Title

Apple Profile

(Free Report)

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.