Moment Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Moment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.9% of Moment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Moment Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Apple by 890.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap leadership and momentum: Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s largest company as Nvidia shares declined. The move reinforces investor confidence in Apple’s resilient consumer business and has made AAPL a relative outperformer among major technology stocks. Apple ends day as world’s most valuable company, passing Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings optimism: Apple reports results on July 30, with analysts expecting continued iPhone demand, Services growth, and potentially strong Mac revenue. Goldman Sachs raised its price target and expects performance above consensus on iPhone and Mac sales, while Bank of America anticipates a Services-driven earnings beat. Goldman Raises Apple Stock Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Investor positioning: Options activity indicates traders are preparing for a sizable upward move following earnings. The stock has risen about 20% from its late-June low, reflecting elevated expectations for the report and Apple’s product ecosystem. Apple options are doing something unusual into earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Future product catalysts: Apple is reportedly emphasizing privacy as it develops smart glasses for a potential 2027 launch, while investors continue to speculate about a foldable iPhone and incoming CEO John Ternus’s ability to drive the next major product cycle. Apple Puts Privacy at Center of Smart Glasses Push
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns: Investors remain divided over Apple’s comparatively restrained AI spending and strategy, particularly as rivals commit hundreds of billions of dollars to AI infrastructure. A disappointing outlook or evidence that Apple is falling behind could pressure the stock after its strong run. Apple Is Barely Spending on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and component-cost risks: At roughly 41 times earnings, Apple has limited room for an earnings miss. Potential tariffs and higher memory-chip prices could increase iPhone production costs and compress hardware margins, although Apple is reportedly seeking permission to use Chinese memory components in international devices. Apple stock and memory-cost analysis

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.40.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $336.91 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.50 and a fifty-two week high of $339.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.61. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.