Commerce Bank Invests $1.24 Billion in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Commerce Bank acquired 4.27 million Apple shares worth approximately $1.24 billion in the second quarter, making Apple its second-largest holding at 5.4% of assets.
• Institutional interest remains strong, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 67.73% of Apple after major purchases by Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ and others.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $340.14 price target. Apple recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year.

Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,274,243 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,236,795,000. Apple accounts for about 5.4% of Commerce Bank's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $13,658,359,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $10,588,946,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 24,974.3% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,614,323 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,754,449,000 after buying an additional 26,508,181 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Apple by 23.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after buying an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,203,206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, September 13th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.14.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reaffirmed its Buy rating and assigned a $370 price target, implying further upside. The firm highlighted improving iPhone 18 Pro Max availability trends, while premium demand remains relatively resilient. BofA Sends Stark Message to Apple Stock Investors on iPhone 18
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new M6 Mac mini and M5 Mac Studio are being marketed as lower-cost alternatives to cloud-based AI infrastructure, potentially expanding Apple’s enterprise opportunity. Their ability to run large AI models locally could create a new hardware growth driver. With new Macs, Apple aims to take on Microsoft and Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is developing a screenless fitness tracker to compete with Whoop and Oura point to potential long-term expansion in health and wearables, although a launch may not occur until 2028. Apple could take on Whoop with a new fitness tracker

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $337.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.42 and a 52 week high of $345.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $321.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 8,632 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company's ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.

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