Benchmark Financial LLC Invests $546,000 in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Posted by Don Miller on May 17th, 2026

Benchmark Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $300.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.48. The company has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $303.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Positive Sentiment: Apple’s post-earnings rally continues after the company posted record quarterly revenue and EPS, boosted its dividend, and authorized a fresh $100 billion buyback. Analysts say the results support further upside and have raised price targets. Apple Stock Hits All-Time High as Post-Earnings Rally Continues
Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI lifted its price target on Apple to $365 and said a bull-case scenario could reach $500, citing compounding growth from Services and Apple’s ability to keep expanding free cash flow. Evercore ISI Hikes Apple Price Target to $365
Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is being helped by reports that iPhone demand remains strong globally, plus Soros Fund Management reportedly boosted its Apple position during the quarter. George Soros’s fund buys Berkshire Hathaway stock — now that Buffett is gone
Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut iPhone 17 prices in China ahead of the 618 shopping festival, which could help support unit sales in a key market. Apple Cuts iPhone 17 Prices in China
Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI is considering legal action over its strained ChatGPT partnership with Apple, which adds uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy and could weigh on sentiment if the dispute escalates. OpenAI explores legal options against Apple
Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic’s Mythos AI found vulnerabilities in Apple’s macOS/iOS are a reminder of ongoing security scrutiny, but the news is more reputational than fundamentally financial for now. Anthropic’s Mythos Helped Find Bugs in Apple’s Desktop Operating System

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.74.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Apple

(Free Report)

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.