8,658 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Purchased by C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired 8,658 Apple shares worth approximately $2.5 million in the second quarter, making Apple 1% of its portfolio and its 26th-largest holding.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, with major firms including Vanguard, Nuveen, Amundi, Dimensional Fund Advisors and Fisher Asset Management increasing their positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $340.14, though valuation concerns, foldable iPhone execution risks and competition in AI remain potential headwinds.

C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 8,658 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,505,000. Apple makes up 1.0% of C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $20,389,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,121 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Apple by 23.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 58,554,032 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,858,200,000 after purchasing an additional 979,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,146,752 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,992,196,000 after purchasing an additional 704,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total transaction of $456,177.39. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 8,632 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone 18 Pro demand: JPMorgan said average delivery times increased to 23 days in the second preorder week from seven days in the first, suggesting demand may be stronger than expected. Analyst Gene Munster said current iPhone 18 estimates could be too conservative, while Evercore ISI raised its price target to $380. JPMorgan sees stronger iPhone 18 Pro demand
• Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone creates a potential premium-growth opportunity: Apple’s new iPhone Duo, priced at $1,999 and scheduled for an October 23 release, represents the company’s largest iPhone design change in years. Investors view the product as a possible catalyst for higher average selling prices and a new upgrade cycle under CEO John Ternus. Apple’s new CEO bets big on a foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: AI and capital returns support the bullish case: Coverage highlighted the successful rollout of upgraded Siri AI, Apple’s reported interest in building AI inference servers, and its shrinking share count from buybacks. Apple’s large cash position, history of earnings beats and long-term shareholder returns are also reinforcing investor confidence. Apple’s shrinking share count
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader strategic opportunities: Apple and Google are hiring digital-asset specialists, potentially signaling future initiatives involving payments, stablecoins or tokenization. The company could also benefit if U.S.-China trade discussions reduce tariff pressure on technology companies. Google and Apple digital-asset hiring
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks are rising: Commentators described AAPL as relatively expensive near its highs, while the $1,999 Duo could limit adoption and expose Apple to foldable-screen execution risks. Google’s AI-powered laptops and Meta’s Muse app also highlight intensifying competition in AI and consumer technology.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: Apple has begun a 90-day claims period tied to a $250 million settlement over allegations that it falsely advertised Apple Intelligence and Siri capabilities. The financial cost is manageable for Apple, but the dispute could weigh on trust in its AI strategy. $250 million Apple AI settlement claims period

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. China Renaissance cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $245.00 price target (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research 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 assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.14.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

Apple stock opened at $338.98 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.42 and a twelve month high of $344.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.08. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $320.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.43.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company's ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.

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