MLP3 LLC Purchases Shares of 9,514 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• MLP3 LLC initiated a new position in Apple, buying 9,514 shares valued at about $2.59 million. The stake represents roughly 2.8% of its portfolio and is its 8th-largest holding.
• Apple continues to attract major institutional interest, with several firms increasing their holdings and 67.73% of the stock now owned by institutional investors. Recent buys include significant additions from Overbrook Management, Tufton Capital Management, and KBC Group.
• Wall Street remains broadly constructive on AAPL, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.59. Analysts like Wedbush see upside tied to Apple’s AI efforts, though rising memory chip costs and recent weakness in big tech could pressure sentiment near term.

MLP3 LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,514 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,587,000. Apple accounts for about 2.8% of MLP3 LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Overbrook Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,178,000. Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $105,482,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,915,172,000 after acquiring an additional 214,215 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Apple’s WWDC AI rollout could be the “first step” toward adding as much as $100 to the stock, as investors focus on the company’s AI execution and the potential for a stronger Siri/Apple Intelligence roadmap. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence suggest Apple is making progress on features that could improve older iPhones, expand software value, and strengthen the case for users to upgrade into the next product cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms reiterating buy/overweight views and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing a bullish long-term sentiment on AAPL. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight Apple’s strong recent operating performance, including record iPhone demand and services revenue, but these are largely a rehash of prior earnings strength rather than a fresh catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance report says rising memory chip costs could pressure Apple’s hardware margins as AI features require more device memory, creating a potential headwind for profitability over the next few quarters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sentiment is also being dampened by articles noting that the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, have been weak in June and have lagged the broader market at times, which can weigh on near-term momentum. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.59.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $296.42 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $286.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.38. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple's payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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.