Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,282,687 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,884 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Apple worth $9,630,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evansbrook LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC now owns 7,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s Sept. 9 product event is generating significant interest under new CEO John Ternus, with expectations for new iPhones, an Apple Watch update and potentially the company’s first foldable iPhone. Citi estimates the foldable device could sell 7.3 million units despite a possible price above $2,000. Citi foldable iPhone sales forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s latest quarter showed strong momentum, with revenue rising 16.4% year over year and earnings exceeding analyst expectations. Morgan Stanley has also suggested the foldable iPhone could contribute roughly $14 billion in December-quarter revenue if successfully launched. Morgan Stanley foldable iPhone estimate
• Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has succeeded Tim Cook as CEO, while Cook remains executive chairman. The transition offers continuity through a longtime Apple executive but raises questions about whether Ternus can accelerate Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy and sustain Cook-era growth. John Ternus becomes Apple CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate initial foldable iPhone production was only a few hundred units per day in late August. Tight quality controls and memory shortages could limit launch supply, delay purchases and prevent Apple from fully capturing expected demand. Foldable iPhone production hurdles
• Negative Sentiment: Memory costs have reportedly surged, potentially forcing Apple to raise iPhone prices, absorb lower margins or risk weaker demand. Jefferies has also downgraded AAPL amid skepticism about the foldable product’s market potential. iPhone memory cost concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over alleged unfair app-tracking rules and a separate BASF patent lawsuit involving facial-authentication technology, adding regulatory and litigation risk. Apple UK app-tracking lawsuit

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.61.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $319.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $315.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.34. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.95 and a 1 year high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,872 shares of company stock valued at $1,823,201. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.