Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,301 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is testing memory chips from China’s CXMT for some iPhones and MacBooks sold in China. If approved by U.S. authorities, the move could provide an additional supply source and help mitigate shortages caused by surging AI-related demand. Apple tests China’s CXMT memory chips
• Positive Sentiment: Some Apple-focused investors, including Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster, argue that the shares remain undervalued and that future iPhone price increases, artificial-intelligence features and a potential upgrade cycle could support longer-term growth. Gene Munster disagrees with Apple downgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is scheduled to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share on August 13 to eligible shareholders, providing a modest near-term shareholder return. Apple dividend payment
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple from Hold to Underperform and cut its price target to $263.66 from $285.56. Analyst Edison Lee reportedly believes Apple has scrapped a planned all-glass iPhone because of production challenges, removing a potential premium product that could have lifted average selling prices and profitability. Apple could underperform without an all-glass iPhone
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage costs are rising sharply amid the AI-driven supply crunch; reports suggest iPhone 18 production costs could increase by roughly 38%. Apple may need to raise prices, risking weaker demand, or absorb the costs, pressuring margins. Apple’s iPhone 18 costs could jump 38%
• Negative Sentiment: The CXMT testing also introduces geopolitical and execution risks: U.S. restrictions could limit Apple’s access to the supplier, while CXMT’s capacity and technology may lag established memory manufacturers. These issues add uncertainty to Apple’s supply chain and pricing strategy.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $308.26 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.78 and a 12-month high of $344.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $309.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business 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 revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.60.

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.