Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Raised by Carmel Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its Apple stake by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,637 more shares and bringing its total to 12,122 shares worth about $3.3 million.
• Apple continues to attract major institutional support, with firms like Vanguard, State Street, Geode, Norges Bank, and Northern Trust also increasing or adding positions; institutions now own 67.73% of the company.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of about $310.31, while Apple also beat earnings expectations last quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,122 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.2% of Carmel Capital Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Carmel Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $380 from $330 and kept a Buy rating, saying Apple is well positioned to benefit from the emerging “agentic AI” smartphone market and could unlock substantial new revenue from a redesigned Siri and AI features. Apple seen as key beneficiary of emerging agentic AI smartphone market, BofA says
• Positive Sentiment: Other Wall Street coverage echoed that view, with reports saying Apple is hitting all-time highs as investors expect a deeper AI push at WWDC, which could improve sentiment and support further upside. Apple stock hits all-time high as analysts see AI-driven breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also highlighted strong underlying fundamentals, including record Services revenue and continued strength in iPhone sales, reinforcing the long-term growth case for Apple. Strong Content & Advertising Aids Apple's Services: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple and Google are pushing back against Canada’s proposed police data-access bill, a regulatory issue that could affect the company’s privacy stance but is not an immediate earnings driver. Apple, Google Blast Canada’s Plan to Expand Police Data Powers
• Negative Sentiment: One potential headwind came from an article noting iPhone 17e sales in Japan have slowed versus its predecessor, which could raise questions about demand in some markets. The Real Reason The iPhone 17e Is Falling Behind Its Predecessor In Japan

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Maxim Group raised shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.31.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Apple stock opened at $308.33 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $271.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.07 and a 52-week high of $311.82.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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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