Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Has $41.25 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 162,533 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after purchasing an additional 3,014 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. grew its position in Apple by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares during the period. Finally, Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $105,482,000. 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 is reportedly training a China-specific large language model with Alibaba’s support. The initiative could bring Apple Intelligence to Chinese users, improve Apple’s competitive position against Huawei and reduce reliance on third-party AI models in a key market. Apple trains China-specific AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Apple opened an advanced manufacturing center in Houston that will support AI-server production, Mac mini assembly and workforce training. The facility reinforces Apple’s U.S. investment plans and may improve supply-chain resilience and relations with policymakers. Apple opens Houston manufacturing facility
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly received about $2.2 billion in tariff refunds. The cash recovery could offset some trade-related expenses and support near-term earnings and cash flow. Apple tariff refund report
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is discussing usage-based content agreements with publishers to improve the upgraded Siri’s access to current information. A stronger Siri could help narrow Apple’s perceived AI gap and support future services growth. Apple publisher talks for Siri
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple proposed a 15% commission on purchases made through external links in iOS apps amid its continuing legal dispute with Epic. The proposal could preserve some App Store revenue, but the final regulatory and legal outcome remains uncertain. Apple proposes external purchase commission
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s valuation remains demanding, with a market capitalization near $4.5 trillion and a forward earnings outlook that leaves the stock sensitive to execution. An insider sale by SVP Jennifer Newstead was disclosed, though such transactions do not necessarily indicate a change in corporate fundamentals. Apple insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple, citing concerns about the canceled or delayed all-glass iPhone concept, limited near-term AI momentum and rising memory-chip costs. Higher component prices could pressure margins and make it harder for Apple to justify its premium valuation. Jefferies Apple downgrade and iPhone concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s Pixel 11 is placing Gemini more deeply into the smartphone experience, raising the competitive stakes for Apple ahead of the iPhone 18 launch and Siri’s broader overhaul.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $305.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $308.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.19. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.78 and a twelve month high of $344.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.75, for a total value of $442,852.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,107 shares in the company, valued at $12,342,929.25. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.60.

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.