Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $5.42 Billion Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,342,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 348,745 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.9% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,416,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.40.

Apple Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of AAPL opened at $340.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $201.50 and a one year high of $342.89. The company has a market cap of $4.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of earnings. Analysts expect continued strength in iPhone and Services revenue, while Goldman Sachs raised its price target and projected outperformance in iPhone and Mac sales. Options activity also indicates expectations for a substantial post-earnings move. Goldman raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: Apple launched Apple Upgrade, a U.S. leasing program powered by Klarna. Customers can lease iPhones, Macs, iPads and Apple Watches through monthly payments, including iPhone plans starting at $17.99. The program could improve affordability, support upgrade frequency and broaden access to Apple’s hardware ecosystem. Apple launches US device leasing program with Klarna
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s privacy positioning is receiving favorable attention after users’ seemingly private Claude AI conversations appeared in Google search results. The publicity may reinforce Apple’s privacy brand, although the direct financial impact is unclear. Claude chats exposed in Google searches
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks are elevated. KeyBanc remains bearish, citing slowing unit and user growth, while Apple’s premium earnings multiple leaves limited room for an earnings or outlook disappointment. Investors will closely watch iPhone demand, Services growth, margins and management commentary during Tim Cook’s final earnings call as CEO. Apple earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory and component costs could pressure hardware margins, particularly if tariffs restrict Apple’s access to lower-cost Chinese suppliers. Separately, a lawsuit alleges that a fraudulent Bitcoin wallet app on the App Store caused about $1.8 million in losses, creating a modest App Store oversight and reputational risk. Memory tariffs and Apple margins

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.