Align Financial LLC Invests $1.03 Billion in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Align Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,799,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,032,862,000. Apple comprises 4.6% of Align Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake 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 valued at $11,413,990,000 after buying an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 20,464.8% during 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 buying an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly preparing a second-generation iPhone Air for spring 2027, with upgrades including a second rear camera and better battery life, reinforcing the company’s longer-term product pipeline. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views after WWDC, arguing Apple’s AI strategy, ecosystem integration, and premium-services monetization could support further upside in AAPL. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: One report said Apple is well positioned to navigate the AI memory crunch because it built up inventory, which could help protect margins versus rivals facing the same component shortage. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple insider Ben Borders sold a small number of shares, but the filing says the sale was mainly to cover tax withholding tied to equity vesting, making it less concerning for investors. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Tim Cook said price hikes across Apple’s lineup are “unavoidable” because AI-driven demand is pushing up memory and storage chip costs, raising concerns about margin pressure and possible consumer backlash. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain frustrated with Apple’s slower-than-expected AI rollout, and some coverage says the company still has to prove tangible progress after WWDC rather than just promise future updates. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Italy opened a Digital Markets Act probe into Apple’s cloud interoperability practices, adding a new regulatory overhang in Europe. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $295.95 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $288.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

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.