Clare Market Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 238,781 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 238,781 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $60,600,000. Apple accounts for about 12.7% of Clare Market Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Apple by 890.7% in the fourth 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 grew its position in Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $333.74 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.50 and a 12 month high of $334.99. The firm 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $303.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.12. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 2,924 shares of company stock worth $825,546 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.43.

Key Apple News

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 Company 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.