Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Raised by Natural Investments LLC

Key Points

• Natural Investments LLC increased its Apple stake by 4.5% to 96,528 shares (worth $26.24 million), with Apple representing 6.5% of the firm's portfolio and its largest holding.
• Apple beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion (up 16.6% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 (ex‑dividend May 11, payable May 14).
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive—Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $304.31 and several firms raising targets into the $325–$335 range, while institutional investors own about 67.7% of the stock.

Natural Investments LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,528 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,120 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.5% of Natural Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Natural Investments LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $26,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 592,599 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $161,104,000 after buying an additional 39,441 shares during the period. Cove Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 118,587 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $32,239,000 after acquiring an additional 6,590 shares during the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 11,276 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares during the last quarter. Optima Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Optima Capital LLC now owns 5,990 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 18,976 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,158,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $304.31.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg/Reuters reports Apple will let users pick third‑party AI models across iOS 27 features — a move that turns iPhones into a more open AI platform, increasing services opportunities and ecosystem stickiness. Apple to let users choose rival AI models across iOS 27 features
• Positive Sentiment: Apple confirmed an increased dividend with an upcoming record/ex‑dividend timeline (shareholders of record May 11; payment mid‑May), supporting income-oriented demand. Dear Apple Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for May 11
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is exploring U.S. chip manufacturing partnerships with Intel and Samsung reduce single‑supplier (TSMC) risk — a structural supply‑chain play that investors see as de‑risking long‑term device production. The news also lifted chip peers, signaling investor appetite for the strategy. Apple explores using Intel, Samsung to build main device chips in the US
• Positive Sentiment: Strong product performance: iPhone 17 is reported as the world’s best‑selling smartphone in Q1 and Apple posted a record March quarter (revenue/EPS beats), reinforcing top‑line momentum. iPhone 17 Rules, Becomes World's Best‑Selling Smartphone
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s R&D spending has crossed 10% of sales as it accelerates AI investment — good for long‑term product leadership but raises near‑term operating leverage and investor focus on ROI. Apple crosses 10% of sales on AI R&D
• Neutral Sentiment: Product lineup changes and temporary pulled Mac Studio/Mac mini high‑memory configs point to supply bottlenecks for Macs — supports demand proof but may keep near‑term sales lumpy. Apple pulls high‑memory Mac mini/Mac Studio configs from store on supply crunch
• Negative Sentiment: Apple agreed to a $250M settlement in lawsuits over delayed/mis‑advertised Siri/AI features — the cost is manageable but highlights execution and marketing risks around AI rollouts and could create modest near‑term cash outflows and reputational headlines. Apple settles lawsuit over late Siri AI features for $250 million
• Negative Sentiment: Legal pressure persists: Apple failed to pause a contempt ruling related to the Epic Games App Store case, keeping antitrust/legal overhangs on the stock. Apple dealt blow by Supreme Court in long‑running antitrust feud

Apple Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $287.52 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $261.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.79. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.25 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% 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 hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Profile

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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