R Squared Ltd Makes New $4.78 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,818 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,776,000. Apple comprises about 2.6% of R Squared Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $333.74 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $303.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.12. 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 company has a market cap of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $201.50 and a 52 week high of $334.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. HSBC raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a report on Thursday. KGI Securities cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy and raised its price target to $366 from $260, saying the company is at an operational turning point with AI features and hardware momentum supporting growth. HSBC upgrades Apple to Buy, sees “strong cycle ahead”
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, and Apple will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model in its China rollout, a key step that could expand Apple’s AI adoption in one of its most important markets. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple briefly overtook Nvidia in market value, reinforcing the view that investors are rotating toward Apple’s consumer execution and away from some AI-heavy names. Apple closes in on Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries highlighted Apple’s cash generation, shareholder returns, and robotics/innovation efforts, supporting the bullish “cash flow machine” and diversification narrative. Apple’s Core Business Cash Flow Machine Will Support Innovation and Diversification

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.