U S Global Investors Inc. Buys New Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

U S Global Investors Inc. bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Apple by 890.7% during 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 last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. 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 leadership handoff could support innovation: Ternus is a longtime hardware executive and product builder, while Cook will remain with Apple as executive chairman. Investors are also looking ahead to the company’s September 9 product event, which could feature new iPhones and other devices. Apple To Begin New Chapter With CEO John Ternus
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlight continuing operating strengths, including strong iPhone share, potential gains as global smartphone shipments weaken, robust recent earnings, and increased fiscal-year EPS estimates. Apple’s planned U.S. manufacturing and AI-server investment could also reduce tariff and supply-chain exposure. Global Phone Shipments Drop, but Apple Positioned for Record iOS Market Share Gain
• Neutral Sentiment: Cook’s departure is being viewed as both a successful succession plan and a major test. His final message endorsed Ternus and emphasized continuity, but investors will judge the new CEO quickly based on the fall product cycle, Siri and Apple’s broader AI strategy. John Ternus to lead Apple into the age of AI
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s AI strategy remains a key concern because it relies substantially on outside partners while rivals are perceived as farther ahead. At the same time, veteran executive Phil Schiller relinquished oversight of the App Store and product events, adding uncertainty during the CEO change. Apple’s top App Store executive departs operational roles
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory costs reportedly prompted significant Mac and iPad price increases, potentially pressuring demand. Apple also disclosed allegations in a trade-secret lawsuit that an OpenAI employee accessed a circuit schematic, creating legal and competitive-risk headlines. Apple alleges OpenAI employee accessed circuit plans
• Negative Sentiment: Monday’s wider market selloff, linked to escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, also weighed on large technology stocks and added pressure to AAPL.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $285.56 to $263.66 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total transaction of $447,457.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at $11,576,357.55. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents 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 three months, insiders sold 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.9%

AAPL stock opened at $316.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $312.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.83. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $225.95 and a one year high of $344.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.

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.