166,969 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL Acquired by MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH

Key Points

• MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired 166,969 Apple shares worth approximately $48.3 million, making Apple its third-largest holding and representing about 4.1% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 67.73% of Apple, with Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, Legal & General, Nuveen and Amundi among major holders adding or maintaining significant positions.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Apple carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $340.14; however, the company faces legal risks, including a potential $5.7 billion patent judgment and revived competition-related litigation.

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 166,969 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $48,314,000. Apple makes up about 4.1% of MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,443,242,000. Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $20,389,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Apple by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.06, for a total transaction of $815,803.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 44,391 shares in the company, valued at $15,095,603.46. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,031 shares of company stock worth $3,535,759. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s renewed patent agreement with Qualcomm helps preserve access to important cellular technology and reduces uncertainty surrounding future iPhone launches. The deal also supports Qualcomm’s royalty stream tied to Apple devices. What Is Going on With Qualcomm Stock on Monday?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is increasing orders for TSMC’s next-generation 2-nanometer chips point to continued investment in more powerful and efficient processors for future iPhones and other products. TSMC Ramps Up 2nm Chip Capacity as Apple, Nvidia Orders Jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s foldable iPhone Duo and premium-device strategy could lift revenue and expand its addressable market, but the roughly $2,000 price raises questions about demand beyond affluent early adopters. Apple’s Premium iPhone Strategy Faces a Test Beyond Early Adopters
• Neutral Sentiment: X Corp. and SpaceXAI reportedly moved to dismiss antitrust claims against Apple and OpenAI, removing one legal challenge, although other regulatory matters remain unresolved. Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI Drop Apple From AI Antitrust Fight
• Negative Sentiment: A U.S. jury ordered Apple to pay approximately $5.7 billion to Taction Technology for infringing patents covering haptic feedback used in products such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal, but the potential liability is the largest U.S. patent award of its kind. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal revived part of a consumer case alleging that Apple and Amazon restricted competition for Apple products sold through Amazon’s U.K. marketplace. Apple also faces an expanded Indian investigation into alleged costly repairs following an iOS 18 software update, increasing potential legal and reputational risk. Apple and Amazon Face Revived UK Consumer Lawsuit Over Product Sales

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. CICC Research lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.14.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $338.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $321.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.18. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.42 and a fifty-two week high of $345.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend 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 currently 12.39%.

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.

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