Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management increased its Apple stake by 5.6% in the second quarter, adding 104,591 shares for a total of 1.98 million shares valued at approximately $558.6 million. Apple now represents 4.3% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Apple carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $330.61. Recent targets include TD Cowen’s $400 and Bank of America’s $380, although some analysts remain neutral and JPMorgan lowered its target to $340.
• Apple shares opened at $325.13, near record highs, while the company reported 16.4% year-over-year revenue growth and earnings that exceeded estimates. Potential risks include elevated valuation, AI challenges, memory-cost pressures and ongoing litigation with OpenAI.

Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,976,818 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 104,591 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.3% of Erste Asset Management GmbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Apple were worth $558,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: John Ternus takes over with an encouraging product message: The longtime hardware engineering chief officially became CEO, while Tim Cook remains as executive chairman. Ternus reportedly told employees that a “huge” and “phenomenal” iPhone launch is coming next week, supporting expectations for strong product momentum and potential interest in a foldable iPhone. John Ternus hypes huge launch next week in first memo as Apple CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is providing additional support: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $380 price target, citing an opportunity for Apple to achieve “device dominance” in the AI era. Rosenblatt also raised its target to $303, though it maintained a Neutral rating, underscoring the mixed outlook at current prices. Bank of America sees device dominance ahead
• Positive Sentiment: Services and Mac demand remain potential growth catalysts: Apple’s price increases for Apple TV and Apple One highlight ecosystem pricing power and could lift high-margin services revenue. Separately, reported shortages of high-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio models suggest developers and businesses may be using Apple Silicon for local AI workloads. Cook out, Silicon in: Will Ternus trigger Apple’s edge AI boom?
• Neutral Sentiment: Continuity may reduce transition risk: Cook’s $47 million compensation package as executive chair signals that he will remain influential, including on government and strategic matters. However, Ternus must establish authority while succeeding a CEO whose tenure produced extraordinary shareholder returns. Tim Cook to be paid $47 million as Apple’s executive chair
• Negative Sentiment: Key risks remain concentrated in AI, costs and valuation: Apple is still viewed as behind rivals in AI and faces pressure to improve Siri. Memory shortages could weigh on hardware margins, while shares trade near record levels at roughly 37 times earnings. Apple also faces an escalating trade-secret lawsuit with OpenAI, which has called the claims baseless. Apple enters John Ternus era as AI challenges and memory crunch intensify

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $330.61.

Apple Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $325.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.18. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.95 and a 1 year high of $344.57.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,576,357.55. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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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