Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd

Key Points

• Alphinity Investment Management more than doubled its Apple position in the fourth quarter, increasing its stake by 105.7% to 1.5 million shares worth about $406.5 million.
• Apple continues to attract major institutional interest, with hedge funds and asset managers collectively owning 67.73% of the company’s shares and several other investors also adding to their positions.
• The article highlights a broadly bullish backdrop for Apple: the stock is near its 52-week high, it beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, and the company recently raised its dividend from $0.26 to $0.27 per share.

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 105.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,495,149 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 768,163 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.1% of Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $406,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 40,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is rolling out new Apple Intelligence features, including AI-powered accessibility tools and planned iOS 27 upgrades such as smarter writing help, Shortcuts improvements, and wallpaper features, reinforcing the view that AI can drive the next phase of growth. Apple announces Apple Intelligence powered accessibility feature updates
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple recent articles highlight Apple’s Services business as a major profit engine, suggesting investors are starting to value Apple less as just an iPhone maker and more as a higher-margin platform company. AAPL: Forget the iPhone—Services Will Drive the Next Phase of Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Apple remains near record levels, with commentary pointing to strong iPhone and Services performance and analyst targets well above current trading ranges, which supports the bullish valuation narrative. Apple Trades Close to 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors continue to add Apple exposure, including a new near-$1 billion stake from Viking Global, signaling ongoing big-money confidence in AAPL. Viking Global Opens Fresh Apple Stake Worth Nearly $1 Billion As Big Tech Trade Roars Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s return of Fortnite to the App Store removes one high-profile friction point, but it also keeps attention on Apple’s App Store control and ongoing platform disputes. Fortnite Returns to the App Store Amid Clashes With Apple
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ordered Apple to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding to regulatory risk around Apple’s platform practices and potential penalties. Indian court tells Apple to 'cooperate' in antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Samsung and Google unveiled AI smart glasses to challenge Meta and Apple, underscoring intensifying competition in next-generation consumer AI hardware. Samsung and Google Announce AI Smart Glasses to Challenge Meta and Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple’s global Formula 1 streaming ambitions may take time to expand beyond the U.S. because of differing international media-rights cycles, limiting the near-term boost from that deal. After U.S. deal, Apple's global F1 push may take time

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $298.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.46 and a 52 week high of $303.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $266.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.Apple's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. 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, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $308.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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