1,607,892 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC purchased 1.61 million Apple shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $465.3 million, making Apple its fourth-largest holding and 2.5% of its portfolio.
• Several other institutional investors also initiated Apple positions, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 67.73% of the company.
• Apple exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $2.02 in EPS and $109.42 billion in revenue. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $340.14.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,607,892 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $465,260,000. Apple makes up about 2.5% of Empowered Funds LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Prospect Hill Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $146,370,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $168,646,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $482,388,000. Satovsky Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,064,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $329.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $243.42 and a one year high of $345.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $321.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.67. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The business's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 12.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Arete Research boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Loop Capital set a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.06, for a total value of $815,803.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 44,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,095,603.46. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 11,031 shares of company stock valued at $3,535,759 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO John Ternus is reportedly considering a leaner, engineering-led structure that could eliminate layers of middle management, accelerate product launches and make Apple more experimental. Investors may view the changes as a response to concerns about slower innovation, particularly in artificial intelligence. Apple CEO overhaul report
• Positive Sentiment: Apple Pay is reportedly launching in a key market, potentially expanding transaction volume and services revenue. Separately, Apple remains a major customer for TSMC’s advanced 2-nanometer chips, supporting future device performance and product differentiation. Apple Pay launch report
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s large buyback program remains a relative strength among the Magnificent Seven, although the immediate effect is financial support rather than a new growth catalyst. Apple and Nvidia buybacks
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America warned that Meta’s Muse could change how consumers search, shop and initiate payments. Even if users continue buying iPhones, AI agents could divert discovery and referral activity away from Apple’s ecosystem, putting pressure on services growth and Apple’s AI strategy. Apple faces threat from Meta Muse
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Ternus may plan layoffs as memory-chip costs rise raise concerns about gross-margin pressure and slower near-term earnings growth. Apple has already indicated that higher memory expenses could reduce profit per device.
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces legal and operational overhangs, including a $5.7 billion patent verdict, a revived UK consumer lawsuit involving Amazon marketplace sales, and an emergency iOS security update addressing a flaw that could enable arbitrary code execution. Apple patent verdict

Apple Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets 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 software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.