Encore Global Management LP Buys Shares of 6,750 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Encore Global Management LP initiated a position in Apple by purchasing 6,750 shares valued at approximately $1.95 million, representing about 1.9% of its portfolio.
• Other major institutional investors also increased their Apple holdings, and institutional ownership stands at 67.73% of the company’s outstanding stock.
• Apple has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average analyst price target of $340.14; the company recently exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $2.02 in quarterly EPS and 16.4% year-over-year revenue growth.

Encore Global Management LP acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,750 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,953,000. Apple makes up approximately 1.9% of Encore Global Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% in 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 boosted its stake in Apple by 23.2% during the 1st 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 boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 979,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 704,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone 18 Pro demand: JPMorgan said average delivery times increased to 23 days in the second preorder week from seven days in the first, suggesting demand may be stronger than expected. Analyst Gene Munster said current iPhone 18 estimates could be too conservative, while Evercore ISI raised its price target to $380. JPMorgan sees stronger iPhone 18 Pro demand
• Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone creates a potential premium-growth opportunity: Apple’s new iPhone Duo, priced at $1,999 and scheduled for an October 23 release, represents the company’s largest iPhone design change in years. Investors view the product as a possible catalyst for higher average selling prices and a new upgrade cycle under CEO John Ternus. Apple’s new CEO bets big on a foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: AI and capital returns support the bullish case: Coverage highlighted the successful rollout of upgraded Siri AI, Apple’s reported interest in building AI inference servers, and its shrinking share count from buybacks. Apple’s large cash position, history of earnings beats and long-term shareholder returns are also reinforcing investor confidence. Apple’s shrinking share count
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader strategic opportunities: Apple and Google are hiring digital-asset specialists, potentially signaling future initiatives involving payments, stablecoins or tokenization. The company could also benefit if U.S.-China trade discussions reduce tariff pressure on technology companies. Google and Apple digital-asset hiring
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks are rising: Commentators described AAPL as relatively expensive near its highs, while the $1,999 Duo could limit adoption and expose Apple to foldable-screen execution risks. Google’s AI-powered laptops and Meta’s Muse app also highlight intensifying competition in AI and consumer technology.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: Apple has begun a 90-day claims period tied to a $250 million settlement over allegations that it falsely advertised Apple Intelligence and Siri capabilities. The financial cost is manageable for Apple, but the dispute could weigh on trust in its AI strategy. $250 million Apple AI settlement claims period

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.19, for a total transaction of $474,813.22. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 8,632 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Apple from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. China Renaissance downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $329.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.14.

Apple Trading Up 0.8%

Apple stock opened at $338.98 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $320.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.42 and a 12 month high of $344.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

About Apple

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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