Korea Investment CORP Makes New $3 Billion Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Korea Investment Corp. acquired approximately $3 billion worth of Apple shares in the second quarter, making Apple its third-largest holding and representing about 5.7% of its portfolio.
• Apple reported quarterly revenue of $109.42 billion and earnings of $2.02 per share, both exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue increased 16.4% year over year.
• Apple shares were trading near their 52-week high with a valuation of roughly 39 times earnings; analysts maintained a “Moderate Buy” consensus, though views ranged from a $245 price target to $400.

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,363,583 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,998,806,000. Apple accounts for about 5.7% of Korea Investment CORP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Apple as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Basso Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone momentum: Investor enthusiasm remains high following Apple’s introduction of the approximately $1,999 iPhone Duo, which represents the company’s biggest iPhone design change in years. Early interest and strong iPhone 18 Pro preorder lead times have reinforced expectations for an upgrade cycle and potentially higher revenue. Apple Folds & Meta Muses
• Positive Sentiment: AI-focused Macs: New Mac mini and Mac Studio systems are being marketed as a lower-cost alternative to cloud data-center computing because businesses can run AI models locally without recurring per-token charges. The strategy could support Mac demand and broaden Apple’s role in enterprise AI, even as Nvidia remains dominant in large-scale infrastructure. With new Macs, Apple aims to take on Microsoft, Nvidia in a rush to lower AI costs
• Positive Sentiment: Wearables expansion: Apple is reportedly developing a screenless fitness tracker to compete with Whoop and Oura. A lower-priced, health-focused wearable could expand Apple’s addressable market and generate additional services revenue, although the product may not launch until as early as 2028. Apple Considers Screenless Fitness Tracker to Expand Wearable Lineup Beyond Smartwatches
• Positive Sentiment: Services and international growth: Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in India next month, initially with Axis Bank, while hiring in digital assets could support future payments and tokenization initiatives. These efforts add to the company’s recurring-revenue ecosystem.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and technical backdrop: Apple’s record run and roughly 39-times earnings multiple are attracting profit-taking concerns, but analysts continue to cite earnings beats, strong cash generation, and improving product momentum. The stock is trading near its 52-week high and close to technical breakout levels.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and geopolitical risks: Apple is opening claims under a $250 million settlement related to alleged misleading Apple Intelligence advertising. Separately, pressure on the new CEO to reconsider Chinese chip sourcing highlights supply-chain and U.S.-China trade risks.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $339.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $321.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $295.97. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.42 and a 52-week high of $345.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.19, for a total transaction of $474,813.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,867,873.66. This trade represents a 4.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 8,632 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. DZ Bank cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. KGI Securities cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $245.00 price objective (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.14.

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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