Fisher Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,146,752 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 704,293 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.1% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,992,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,044,697 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,915,172,000 after buying an additional 214,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montis Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.8% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,841,000 after buying an additional 10,640 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.82.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new Siri AI and broader Apple Intelligence rollout could improve user engagement, strengthen the ecosystem, and support longer-term monetization across its large installed base. Apple introduces Siri AI, a profoundly more capable and personal assistant
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish analysts said the WWDC announcements could unlock significant AI-driven upside, with one note calling the event a potential catalyst for meaningful monetization across Apple’s installed base. AI Could Add $75-$100 to Apple Stock (AAPL), Says Top Wedbush Analyst after WWDC Event
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple expanded developer tools and AI frameworks, including cheaper access to its Foundation Models for smaller developers, which may help grow the ecosystem but is unlikely to move near-term earnings immediately. Apple bets cheaper AI will woo small developers
• Negative Sentiment: The market’s reaction suggests investors wanted a bigger AI breakthrough; several reports said Apple shares faded after the announcements as the new platform was seen as underwhelming versus high expectations. Apple (AAPL) Stock Slides after New AI Platform Underwhelms
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is still being viewed as late to AI, and some coverage framed WWDC as catch-up rather than a clear leadership moment, raising concerns that the announcements may not be enough to drive a new wave of hardware upgrades right away. Apple plays catch-up at WWDC

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $301.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.07 and a 1-year high of $317.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $282.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.