KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $1.58 Billion Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS trimmed its Apple stake by just 0.3% in the fourth quarter, but still held 5.8 million shares valued at about $1.58 billion. Apple remains its second-largest holding and accounts for 6.1% of its portfolio.
• Apple continues to draw strong institutional interest, with institutional investors owning 67.73% of the stock and several funds recently adding or initiating positions. The article also notes that Viking Global opened a new stake worth nearly $1 billion.
• Fundamentals and sentiment remain supportive: Apple beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, raised its dividend, and has analyst coverage that leans bullish with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $308.74 price target. At the same time, the stock is near its 52-week high amid both AI-driven growth optimism and some regulatory and competitive risks.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,817,204 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 20,200 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.1% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Apple were worth $1,581,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is rolling out new Apple Intelligence features, including AI-powered accessibility tools and planned iOS 27 upgrades such as smarter writing help, Shortcuts improvements, and wallpaper features, reinforcing the view that AI can drive the next phase of growth. Apple announces Apple Intelligence powered accessibility feature updates
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple recent articles highlight Apple’s Services business as a major profit engine, suggesting investors are starting to value Apple less as just an iPhone maker and more as a higher-margin platform company. AAPL: Forget the iPhone—Services Will Drive the Next Phase of Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Apple remains near record levels, with commentary pointing to strong iPhone and Services performance and analyst targets well above current trading ranges, which supports the bullish valuation narrative. Apple Trades Close to 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors continue to add Apple exposure, including a new near-$1 billion stake from Viking Global, signaling ongoing big-money confidence in AAPL. Viking Global Opens Fresh Apple Stake Worth Nearly $1 Billion As Big Tech Trade Roars Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s return of Fortnite to the App Store removes one high-profile friction point, but it also keeps attention on Apple’s App Store control and ongoing platform disputes. Fortnite Returns to the App Store Amid Clashes With Apple
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ordered Apple to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding to regulatory risk around Apple’s platform practices and potential penalties. Indian court tells Apple to 'cooperate' in antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Samsung and Google unveiled AI smart glasses to challenge Meta and Apple, underscoring intensifying competition in next-generation consumer AI hardware. Samsung and Google Announce AI Smart Glasses to Challenge Meta and Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple’s global Formula 1 streaming ambitions may take time to expand beyond the U.S. because of differing international media-rights cycles, limiting the near-term boost from that deal. After U.S. deal, Apple's global F1 push may take time

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.15, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $303.20. The company's fifty day moving average price is $266.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.06%.

Apple Profile

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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