North Star Asset Management Inc. Makes New $98.18 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management initiated a $98.18 million Apple position, purchasing 339,288 shares that now represent 3.9% of its portfolio and its largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of Apple.
• Apple reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 consensus and revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year over year. The company also maintains a $0.27 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 0.3% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $340.14 price target, although shares recently traded down 2.7% and Apple faces concerns involving AI competition, rising memory costs, legal liabilities and security issues.

North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 339,288 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $98,177,000. Apple comprises 3.9% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $20,389,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,121 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Apple by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $329.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $321.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.42 and a 12-month high of $345.34. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.Apple's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $366.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Arete Research upped their price target on Apple from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.14.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO John Ternus is reportedly considering a leaner, engineering-led structure that could eliminate layers of middle management, accelerate product launches and make Apple more experimental. Investors may view the changes as a response to concerns about slower innovation, particularly in artificial intelligence. Apple CEO overhaul report
• Positive Sentiment: Apple Pay is reportedly launching in a key market, potentially expanding transaction volume and services revenue. Separately, Apple remains a major customer for TSMC’s advanced 2-nanometer chips, supporting future device performance and product differentiation. Apple Pay launch report
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s large buyback program remains a relative strength among the Magnificent Seven, although the immediate effect is financial support rather than a new growth catalyst. Apple and Nvidia buybacks
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America warned that Meta’s Muse could change how consumers search, shop and initiate payments. Even if users continue buying iPhones, AI agents could divert discovery and referral activity away from Apple’s ecosystem, putting pressure on services growth and Apple’s AI strategy. Apple faces threat from Meta Muse
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Ternus may plan layoffs as memory-chip costs rise raise concerns about gross-margin pressure and slower near-term earnings growth. Apple has already indicated that higher memory expenses could reduce profit per device.
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces legal and operational overhangs, including a $5.7 billion patent verdict, a revived UK consumer lawsuit involving Amazon marketplace sales, and an emergency iOS security update addressing a flaw that could enable arbitrary code execution. Apple patent verdict

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.06, for a total transaction of $815,803.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 44,391 shares in the company, valued at $15,095,603.46. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,031 shares of company stock worth $3,535,759. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and software platforms, including iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS and visionOS.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

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.