Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,778,119 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 154,601 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.8% of MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $755,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,268,228 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,694,783,000 after purchasing an additional 853,890 shares in the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 157,467 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,810,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 79,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,586,000 after buying an additional 7,824 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 201,637 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $52,476,000 after buying an additional 11,187 shares during the period. Finally, Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,066,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $296.42 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $286.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Apple’s WWDC AI rollout could be the “first step” toward adding as much as $100 to the stock, as investors focus on the company’s AI execution and the potential for a stronger Siri/Apple Intelligence roadmap. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports on iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence suggest Apple is making progress on features that could improve older iPhones, expand software value, and strengthen the case for users to upgrade into the next product cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms reiterating buy/overweight views and price targets clustered well above current levels, reinforcing a bullish long-term sentiment on AAPL. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight Apple’s strong recent operating performance, including record iPhone demand and services revenue, but these are largely a rehash of prior earnings strength rather than a fresh catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A Yahoo Finance report says rising memory chip costs could pressure Apple’s hardware margins as AI features require more device memory, creating a potential headwind for profitability over the next few quarters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sentiment is also being dampened by articles noting that the Magnificent Seven, including Apple, have been weak in June and have lagged the broader market at times, which can weigh on near-term momentum. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 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.