Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Apple News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target on Apple to $365 and kept a Buy rating, arguing the company can keep gaining market share and may benefit from premium iPhone pricing and Apple Intelligence upside. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to show strong smartphone performance, including record Q2 market share in China and reports that it has outperformed the broader smartphone slump, which supports the case for resilient demand. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on potential future catalysts such as a possible iPhone price increase and new product cycles, including foldable iPhone plans and AI-focused chip development. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI is keeping the stock in the headlines; it could protect Apple’s intellectual property and slow a competitor’s hardware push, but it also adds legal uncertainty. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom’s multiyear chip agreement was described as strategically positive for Apple’s AI silicon efforts, but it is more of a longer-term support story than a direct near-term stock mover. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc’s downgrade and related bearish commentary from other firms are the clearest reasons Apple stock is lower, with analysts warning that slowing iPhone upgrades and softer Services growth could limit further upside. Article Title
Insider Activity at Apple
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.11.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of AAPL stock opened at $314.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.50 and a 52 week high of $323.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.89.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. 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 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.
About Apple
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.
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