LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Has $105.46 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 364,448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,846 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.8% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Apple were worth $105,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth 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 grew its stake 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 worth $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.49, for a total transaction of $442,478.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 38,668 shares in the company, valued at $11,890,023.32. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 2,994 shares of company stock worth $919,567 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. HSBC raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.53.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New AI-focused Macs strengthen Apple’s edge-computing strategy. Apple launched updated Mac mini and Mac Studio desktops powered by the M6 and M5 Ultra chips, emphasizing local AI workloads. The M6 reportedly uses a 2-nanometer process, while the M5 Ultra supports large models with up to 512GB of unified memory. The products could expand Apple’s role in AI development without requiring the massive infrastructure spending undertaken by rivals. Apple announces new Mac Mini and Mac Studio models with AI upgrades
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore maintained an Outperform rating and $365 price target. The firm said the higher Mac mini prices appear justified by the performance improvements, providing a positive Wall Street signal even as AAPL trades at a demanding valuation. Apple Stock Reiterated as Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s capital-light AI approach is attracting investor interest. With technology shares exposed to concerns about an AI infrastructure spending race, Apple’s focus on on-device AI and its existing hardware ecosystem is being viewed as a relative advantage. Apple Rises as Investors Flee the AI Spending Arms Race
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple reversed a planned change to Hide My Email. Preserving the privacy feature may support customer trust, but the move is unlikely to materially affect near-term revenue or earnings. Apple rescues Hide My Email feature
• Negative Sentiment: Higher Mac prices and memory shortages could limit demand. The new Mac mini reportedly starts at $899, while the top Mac Studio configuration can cost substantially more. Persistent memory constraints could raise component costs and eventually contribute to higher iPhone prices, pressuring consumer demand and margins. Apple launches faster Mac mini and Mac Studio
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and restructuring remain concerns. Apple is cutting more than 200 positions across Siri and Vision Pro while redirecting resources toward AI and smart glasses. The shift may improve focus, but it also highlights delays and uncertainty around Apple’s AI product roadmap. Apple cuts 200 jobs in Siri and Vision Pro
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation leaves limited room for disappointment. Around $310 per share, AAPL carries a market value above $4.5 trillion and a forward-looking growth profile that depends heavily on the next iPhone cycle. Analysts remain constructive, but investors are sensitive to evidence of slower growth, pricing pressure or weaker AI adoption.

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $309.90 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $311.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.69. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.69 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The company has a market cap of $4.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 12.39%.

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.