Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group increased its Apple position by 4.6% in the first quarter, adding 31,623 shares for a total of 717,733 shares valued at approximately $182.2 million. Apple represents 2.9% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of the stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Apple carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $327.40. Optimism is supported by expected strength in iPhone and Services revenue, though some analysts warn that Apple’s high valuation and slowing growth leave limited room for disappointment.
• Apple recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.01 in EPS and $111.18 billion in revenue, up 16.6% year over year. Shares opened at $340.08, near the company’s 52-week high, while rising component costs and potential tariffs remain risks to hardware margins.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 717,733 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 31,623 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.9% of Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $182,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its holdings in Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of earnings. Analysts expect continued strength in iPhone and Services revenue, while Goldman Sachs raised its price target and projected outperformance in iPhone and Mac sales. Options activity also indicates expectations for a substantial post-earnings move. Goldman raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: Apple launched Apple Upgrade, a U.S. leasing program powered by Klarna. Customers can lease iPhones, Macs, iPads and Apple Watches through monthly payments, including iPhone plans starting at $17.99. The program could improve affordability, support upgrade frequency and broaden access to Apple’s hardware ecosystem. Apple launches US device leasing program with Klarna
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s privacy positioning is receiving favorable attention after users’ seemingly private Claude AI conversations appeared in Google search results. The publicity may reinforce Apple’s privacy brand, although the direct financial impact is unclear. Claude chats exposed in Google searches
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks are elevated. KeyBanc remains bearish, citing slowing unit and user growth, while Apple’s premium earnings multiple leaves limited room for an earnings or outlook disappointment. Investors will closely watch iPhone demand, Services growth, margins and management commentary during Tim Cook’s final earnings call as CEO. Apple earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory and component costs could pressure hardware margins, particularly if tariffs restrict Apple’s access to lower-cost Chinese suppliers. Separately, a lawsuit alleges that a fraudulent Bitcoin wallet app on the App Store caused about $1.8 million in losses, creating a modest App Store oversight and reputational risk. Memory tariffs and Apple margins

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) 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-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $327.40.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $340.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.50 and a twelve month high of $342.89. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $308.22 and a 200 day moving average of $280.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

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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