Csenge Advisory Group Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Csenge Advisory Group purchased 162,699 Apple shares worth approximately $47.1 million during the second quarter, making Apple about 1.9% of its portfolio and its ninth-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of Apple.
• Apple reported quarterly revenue of $109.42 billion and EPS of $2.02, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue grew 16.4% year over year. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $340.14.
• Apple’s outlook is supported by potential iPhone upgrade demand and ecosystem expansion, including carrier trade-in promotions, renewed CarPlay adoption and a possible Apple Pay launch in India. Risks include premium pricing, mixed early demand indicators, regulatory scrutiny and labor disputes.

Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 162,699 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $47,078,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.9% of Csenge Advisory Group's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $20,389,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,121 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Apple by 23.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 58,554,032 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,858,200,000 after buying an additional 979,832 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,146,752 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,992,196,000 after buying an additional 704,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its Apple price target to $380 from $365 and maintained an outperform view. A survey of roughly 4,000 consumers indicated a potentially stronger-than-expected iPhone upgrade cycle and a higher average selling price. iPhone 18 Pro Hits Stores Today
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone 18 Pro sales are supported by carrier trade-in promotions. Bank of America said incentives can offset the $100 price increase, reducing the risk that higher prices will weaken demand. Apple’s iPhone 18 Lineup Keeps Bank of America Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s ecosystem is gaining additional reach. General Motors plans to restore Apple CarPlay after consumer backlash, while Apple is reportedly preparing an Apple Pay launch in India with Axis Bank. These developments could support services engagement and ecosystem adoption. GM Is Re-downloading Apple CarPlay
• Neutral Sentiment: Initial iPhone 18 Pro demand indicators are mixed. Quick-commerce shortages in India suggest strong localized demand, but UBS cited muted wait times in several major markets. Investors are also assessing whether customers may delay purchases for Apple’s roughly $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo. Apple iPhone 18 Seeing Muted Initial Wait Times
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include premium pricing, valuation and regulatory pressure. Analysts warn that expensive devices could limit adoption in price-sensitive markets such as India. More than 1,600 Italian Apple store employees also struck on launch day, while Apple continues to challenge a potential UK encryption backdoor order and faces European legal scrutiny. Italian Apple Store Employees Strike

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $336.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $240.21 and a 1 year high of $344.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $320.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. China Renaissance lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $329.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Phillip Securities upped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $366.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.19, for a total value of $474,813.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,914 shares in the company, valued at $10,867,873.66. This represents a 4.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,632 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.