Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,848,633 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,699 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.1% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,590,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.59.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $291.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $284.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock valued at $24,964,305. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and TD Cowen raised their price targets on Apple after WWDC, signaling confidence that the AI rollout could support longer-term upside. Morgan Stanley revamps Apple stock target after key event
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say Apple’s new AI features may help spark a bigger iPhone upgrade cycle and strengthen Services revenue over time. Apple’s AI could usher in a historic upgrade cycle that investors are overlooking
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple introduced a more capable Siri and platform-wide AI upgrades at WWDC, which could matter for future device demand, but investors are still waiting for proof of monetization. WWDC 2026: Everything announced on Siri AI, iOS 27, Apple Intelligence and more
• Negative Sentiment: The stock fell after WWDC because the AI reveal did not deliver the immediate breakthrough many investors expected, and the rollout looks gradual rather than explosive. Why Apple (AAPL) Shares Are Sliding Today
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts warned that older iPhones may not be able to run the new AI features well, limiting the addressable installed base and near-term upside. Apple’s AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

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.