Walleye Partners LLC Buys New Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Walleye Partners LLC disclosed a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter, buying 2,507 shares valued at about $682,000. Apple now makes up 0.8% of the fund’s holdings and ranks as its 20th-largest position.
• Institutional interest in Apple remains strong, with other investors also adding to their stakes and 67.73% of the stock currently held by institutions. The article also notes a recent large new Apple stake from Viking Global, underscoring continued big-money confidence.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive: analysts have a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $308.74. Apple also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, and it raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share.

Walleye Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,507 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $682,000. Apple accounts for 0.8% of Walleye Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. American Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Avant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the third quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $308.74.

Apple News Summary

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

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $298.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.88. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.46 and a fifty-two week high of $303.20. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

About Apple

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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