Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $268.30 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its Apple stake 18.2% in Q4 to 986,913 shares worth $268.30 million, making AAPL its 7th-largest holding (≈2% of the firm's assets).
• Insiders recently sold stock: CEO Tim Cook sold 64,949 shares (~$16.51 million) and SVP Deirdre O'Brien sold 30,002 shares (~$7.66 million), both under pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans.
• Apple beat Q results with $2.84 EPS and $143.76 billion revenue (up 15.7% YoY); analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of about $297.58.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 986,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 151,876 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.0% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $268,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 15.7% in the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Billionaire endorsement — High-profile investors (Warren Buffett and Ken Griffin) are publicly favoring Apple, which supports a quality-growth bid and can attract institutional flows. Here’s Why Warren Buffett and Ken Griffin Love Apple (AAPL)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/analyst catalyst — Bank of America reiterates a Buy and flags the new, lower‑priced MacBook Neo as a growth lever that could expand market share and improve revenue mix; BofA’s $320 target implies upside from current levels. Apple MacBook Neo could expand market reach, says Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: ETF/market tailwind — Momentum in the Nasdaq/QQQ (where Apple is a top holding) and positive technical/earnings signals for big tech are creating broader buying support for AAPL. 5 Reasons the Invesco QQQ ETF Could Be Headed for a Triple-Digit Rally (AAPL)
• Neutral Sentiment: App-store dynamics — A new wave of App Store submissions (driven by so‑called “vibe coding”) signals developer activity and innovation, but monetization and long-term benefit to Apple’s services revenue remain uncertain. The Apple App store is seeing an unexpected phenomenon. Is vibe coding behind it?
• Negative Sentiment: Supreme Court appeal — Apple is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review additional aspects of the Epic Games App Store case; extended litigation and potential fee restrictions remain a material legal overhang. Apple plans Supreme Court appeal in Epic Games App Store battle — again
• Negative Sentiment: China patent ruling risk — A Chinese court ruling upholding key AI patents in a dispute with Xiao‑I ratchets legal risk and uncertainty for Apple in China; this raises potential exposure and licensing/dispute costs. Xiao-I (AIXI) jumps 166.9% as investors react to China top-court ruling upholding key AI patents in Apple dispute
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pushback in China — Apple temporarily activated then pulled Apple Intelligence features in China; regulators are scrutinizing AI services and approvals, adding execution risk for AI rollouts in a key market. Apple China AI Setback Puts Regulatory Risk In Investor Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Filings show CEO Tim Cook sold company stock recently; while common for planned sales, such moves often attract short‑term attention from investors. Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook Is Selling Company Stock

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $297.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AAPL opened at $258.86 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

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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