Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,928,565 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 337,156 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Apple worth $3,027,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. HSBC upgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. KeyCorp restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.60.
View Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $308.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $309.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.45. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.50 and a 52 week high of $344.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 142.29% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Key Stories Impacting Apple
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record June-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, and diluted EPS of $2.02, exceeding Wall Street expectations. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
- Positive Sentiment: Apple’s large installed base, strong hardware demand and potential consumer-AI opportunities remain long-term supports. Some analysts remain bullish: TD Cowen raised its price target to $400, while other firms maintained Buy or Overweight ratings despite trimming estimates. Analyst raises Apple price target
- Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, payable August 13 to shareholders of record August 10. Apple also continues to emphasize an AI strategy that requires less capital spending than the infrastructure-heavy approach used by some peers. Apple Q3 financial results
Apple Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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