Auto Owners Insurance Co Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Auto Owners Insurance Co massively increased its Apple position in Q4, buying over 4 million additional shares and bringing its stake to 4,028,421 shares valued at about $109.5 million.
• Apple’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, while revenue rose 16.6% year over year. Analysts remain generally constructive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $314.85.
• The company also raised its dividend to $0.27 per share quarterly, but investors are watching margin pressure after Tim Cook warned that Apple may need to pass along higher memory chip costs through price increases.

Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 27,086.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,028,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 4,013,603 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co's holdings in Apple were worth $109,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $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. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $297.01 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $198.96 and a 1-year high of $317.40. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $290.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Apple’s WWDC 2026 AI announcements were a “material positive reset,” citing a more capable Siri that can understand context, screen content, and execute actions across apps and devices. Apple's WWDC 2026 AI strategy reset viewed positively by Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to Apple’s expanding enterprise footprint, AI push, and business tools as drivers that could support device shipments and sustained sales growth. Apple's Expanding Enterprise Footprint to Boost Sales: What's Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s rumored chip partnership with Intel is being framed as a long-term domestic manufacturing catalyst, but it remains unconfirmed and more relevant to Intel’s rally than to Apple’s near-term fundamentals. Intel’s Surge on an Apple Chip Deal Means Investors Are Betting on Its Foundry
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent congressional trading report noted activity in several Magnificent Seven names, including Apple, but the disclosure did not indicate a company-specific operational change. New Congressman Is Selling Stocks: Here's The Six Magnificent Seven Names He Ditched
• Negative Sentiment: Tim Cook warned that Apple can no longer fully absorb rising memory chip costs, making product price hikes increasingly likely and raising margin concerns for investors. Tim Cook Warns Apple Product Price Hikes Are Unavoidable Due to Higher Chip Costs. What That Means for AAPL Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: KGI Securities downgraded Apple to Neutral, saying the stock’s recent rally leaves limited upside from current levels. Apple stock hit with major Wall Street downgrade

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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