Quartz Partners LLC Buys Shares of 29,544 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Quartz Partners LLC acquired 29,544 Apple shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $8.55 million. Apple now represents about 2.8% of the firm’s portfolio and is its fifth-largest holding.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple, with major firms including Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, Vanguard, Diamant Asset Management and Amundi increasing or initiating positions.
• Apple has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average analyst price target of $340.14. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while investor sentiment is supported by potential iPhone upgrade demand and ecosystem expansion but tempered by valuation, pricing and regulatory risks.

Quartz Partners LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,544 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $8,549,000. Apple comprises approximately 2.8% of Quartz Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $13,658,359,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,588,946,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 24,974.3% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,614,323 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,754,449,000 after buying an additional 26,508,181 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,547,637,000 after buying an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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: Evercore ISI raised its Apple price target to $380 from $365 and maintained an outperform view. A survey of roughly 4,000 consumers indicated a potentially stronger-than-expected iPhone upgrade cycle and a higher average selling price. iPhone 18 Pro Hits Stores Today
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone 18 Pro sales are supported by carrier trade-in promotions. Bank of America said incentives can offset the $100 price increase, reducing the risk that higher prices will weaken demand. Apple’s iPhone 18 Lineup Keeps Bank of America Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s ecosystem is gaining additional reach. General Motors plans to restore Apple CarPlay after consumer backlash, while Apple is reportedly preparing an Apple Pay launch in India with Axis Bank. These developments could support services engagement and ecosystem adoption. GM Is Re-downloading Apple CarPlay
• Neutral Sentiment: Initial iPhone 18 Pro demand indicators are mixed. Quick-commerce shortages in India suggest strong localized demand, but UBS cited muted wait times in several major markets. Investors are also assessing whether customers may delay purchases for Apple’s roughly $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo. Apple iPhone 18 Seeing Muted Initial Wait Times
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include premium pricing, valuation and regulatory pressure. Analysts warn that expensive devices could limit adoption in price-sensitive markets such as India. More than 1,600 Italian Apple store employees also struck on launch day, while Apple continues to challenge a potential UK encryption backdoor order and faces European legal scrutiny. Italian Apple Store Employees Strike

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $304.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. KeyCorp reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.14.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $336.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.55, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $240.21 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $320.24 and a 200-day moving average of $294.90.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.19, for a total value of $474,813.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,914 shares in the company, valued at $10,867,873.66. This trade represents a 4.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,632 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955. 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 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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