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Apple (AAPL) stock is a popular investment option and world-renowned company famous for its iOS products, including iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.
With a market capitalization of $2.8 trillion, Apple is the second-largest company in the world.
Would you fancy including AAPL stock, which has pleased its shareholders with a long history of sustainable growth, in your investment portfolio?
Let’s take a look at some of the ways to gain exposure to this tech giant.
Key Takeaways
- Apple is the world’s second-largest company and offers investor stability with a huge share buyback program and a long dividend history.
- As the producer of the iPhone, among many other tech gadgets and services, Apple’s stock has performed strongly over the past decade.
- Apple could be expanding into new areas of potential growth, such as virtual reality, AI, and EVs. It is one of the world’s most innovative enterprises.
- Services and wearables now make up a significant percentage of Apple’s revenue, with a proportional decline in iPads and computers.
- You can buy Apple stock through most online brokerage services.
How to Buy Apple Stock: A Step-by-Step Guide
As a massive tech company, Apple can generate revenue and is diversified within its sectors. It remains a significant player in the tech industry, attracting both institutional and retail investors with a stable Apple stock price performance.
A popular stock, AAPL trades on one of the world’s major exchanges, Nasdaq. The stock is attractive due to its high liquidity and stability, but you’ll still have to conduct your own research in order to understand if it’s a winning trade, given your levels of diversification, risk tolerance, and broader market conditions.
So, how to invest in Apple stock?
1. Conduct Your Analysis
The first step in executing any trade is independent analysis. You need to run through the company financials to gauge where the Apple stock price might be headed.
But you also want to look at the wider sector as good companies can have poor years due to wider macroeconomic conditions.
Apple’s market cap went from $746 billion in 2018 to $2.9 trillion by the end of 2021. At a time when companies in many other sectors were decimated by COVID-19, it thrived. As of May 2024, Apple keeps the second position among the top trillion-dollar companies with the largest market capitalization.
A lot depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want diversification with a solid company, then AAPL is a definite winner.
What makes stocks like AAPL so investment-worthy is their stability. Even if they have a poor year, its sheer size and range of products mean it is very likely to bounce back sooner or later.
Over enough time, investments are likely to retain their value. Plus, share buybacks are a common means through which blue-chip companies increase in value over the years.
If you are investing for stability in the long run, Apple could be a good option.
2. Decide on a Budget
How much does it cost to buy stock in Apple?
After you are clear on buying AAPL, the next step is to decide how much. This will be done in line with your overall portfolio allocation strategy and how much cash you have at hand.
As a general rule, you’ll need at least 20 stocks to be considered diversified. Following on from this, you should not invest more than 5% in a single stock within an all-stock portfolio. This is why investment funds or ETFs are popular, as they save investors the problem of having to choose individual stocks.
– Harry Markowitz, Nobel-Winning Pioneer of Modern Portfolio Theory
Even with a stable company like Apple, it’s generally not advisable to take a large position relative to the rest of your portfolio.
However, certain tech-focused ETFs can have up to 15%-20% weighting in Apple, such as the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund and iShares Global Tech ETF.
3. Open a Brokerage Account
If you’ve been wondering how to buy Apple stock without a broker, you can’t. According to the company, you can’t purchase Apple stock directly, but it is available through “just about any brokerage firm, including online brokerage services.”
Opening a brokerage account is easier than it once was in many respects. You will still need to provide KYC information, typically including identity verification and proof of address.
There are many options to choose from, and once your account is approved, you are free to buy and sell stocks as you wish.
But you will still need to find a brokerage that caters to your needs. You might want to check:
- Account opening minimums
- Mobile application ratings
- Stock fees
- Withdrawal and deposit options
- Online reviews
- Product offerings (stocks, ETFs, fractional shares, etc.)
4. Buy Apple stock
Buying Apple stock is a relatively straightforward process across all platforms. You will select your account, type the ticker AAPL into the search bar, and then click either ‘buy’ or ‘sell.’
You can choose a market order or a limit order. With a market order, you are buying the share at the current price. With a limit order, you set the maximum price you are willing to pay.
At this stage, click confirm or similar, and you are now an AAPL stock holder. You can view your holdings in the brokerage dashboard.
5. Track your AAPL Investment Performance
After you own AAPL, you can track its performance through your platform dashboard.
There’s no need to check on the intraday price for stocks if you’re not a short-term investor, for example, trading contracts for difference to speculate on short-term stock price swings. This might encourage emotional investment instead of a long-term orientation.
Often, especially with large companies, the stock can rise in value if the owner can hold it through troubling times.
The worst thing that can be done is sell at a low and buy at a high, which is what happens to most novice investors who get spooked easily by declining prices, which are a natural feature of any market.
You might want to stay abreast of industry developments within the wider tech industry and economy. If you have solid reason to believe that AAPL stock price is going to take a hit in the year ahead, then it does make sense to sell and perhaps buy back at a lower price.
How to Sell Apple Stock
Selling Apple stock is the same procedure as buying the stock, except in reverse.
Using your previously opened brokerage account, simply type in AAPL in the search bar and select the sell option instead of the buy option.
Apple has huge liquidity, so in most instances, this should not be a problem. The difficulty, as always, lies in timing the market so that you sell at a high instead of a low.
Proceeds from your funds will be deposited into your brokerage account, where you can either withdraw or use these funds for further investment.
How to Invest in Apple Through Investment Funds
Investing in Apple through investment funds is straightforward and accessible to all types of investors. You can choose from a variety of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that include Apple in their portfolios.
Mutual funds pool money from multiple investors to invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, or other assets.
Some of the most popular tech-focused funds, including Apple stock, are the following:
| Ticker | Fund | Expense Ratio | AUM | AAPL Allocation |
| VGT | Vanguard Information Technology ETF | 0.10% | $62B | 21.5% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | 0.09% | $61B | 19.9% |
| FTEC | Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF | 0.08% | $9B | 19.6% |
| IXN | iShares Global Tech ETF | 0.41% | $4B | 18.1% |
| IYW | iShares U.S. Technology ETF | 0.40% | $15B | 15.2% |
ETFs are traded on stock exchanges like individual stocks but offer exposure to a basket of securities, which may include Apple – many do, as it is so well known.
By investing in these funds, you gain indirect ownership of Apple shares alongside other investors, spreading risk and potentially benefiting from professional management.
Simply open an account with a brokerage firm, research available funds that suit your investment objectives, and place your investment order.
Investing in Apple through funds provides a convenient way to participate in its potential growth without the need to directly purchase and manage individual shares.
Apple Stock Splits: How They Affect Investors
Apple stock splits occur when the company decides to divide its existing shares into multiple shares. For example, in a 2-for-1 stock split, each shareholder receives an additional share for every share they already own. This doubles the share ownership.
Stock splits do not change the overall value of an investor’s holdings; however, they do decrease the price per share.
This can make the stock more affordable to a broader range of investors, potentially increasing liquidity and trading activity. Additionally, stock splits are often perceived as a positive signal by investors, indicating confidence in future growth prospects from the company’s management.
While stock splits do not directly affect a company’s fundamentals, they can influence investor sentiment and market dynamics in the short term.
Overall, stock splits provide an opportunity for investors to increase their holdings at a lower per-share price. This can potentially enhance overall returns.
Apple Stock Split History
The following table outlines the history of Apple stock splits and the before/after ROI per share.
Apple Dividends
Apple dividends are payments made to shareholders as a distribution of the company’s profits. Historically, Apple has steadily increased its dividend payments over the years, reflecting its strong financial performance and commitment to returning value to shareholders.
The company revived its dividend program in 2012 and has since raised its dividend annually, making it an attractive investment option. Apple’s dividend yield, which measures the annual dividend payment relative to its stock price, has fluctuated over time but has generally remained competitive compared to other large-cap technology companies.
Moreover, Apple’s strong cash position and consistent free cash flow generation provide confidence in the sustainability of its dividend payments.
While dividend income is one component of total returns for investors, Apple’s dividend history demonstrates its dedication to rewarding shareholders as well as its financial stability – even amidst severe market fluctuations.
The Future of Apple
When conducting research into Apple, it’s helpful to understand a few key points regarding the company. Otherwise, you could fall prey to many misconceptions. This is where graphs and stats can help.
For instance, revenue from wearables and services has been increasing in recent years, and this trend could continue. Services made up 23% of revenue in 2023, with accessories at around 10% and the core iPhone offering at about 50%. Sales of iPads and iMac computers have been declining.
Apple is a forward-facing company and is rumored to be developing AI chips for data centers. These AI chips are already incorporated into its latest iPad releases.
Like all large multinational companies, it will have to surmount regulatory challenges, however. It is listed as a “gatekeeper” under the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act, a law to curtail big tech monopolies. In the USA, meanwhile, Apple has been accused of monopolizing the smartphone market and driving up prices.
Apple Background
Apple was incorporated in 1977. However, it started to rise in prominence around 1998, when Steve Jobs returned to the company as a CEO and the iMac was released.
These days, Apple is best known as the maker of the iPhone and a leading hardware and software provider with a multinational presence and a recent quarterly revenue of $90 billion.
To give you an idea of how large Apple is, consider that its recent $110 billion share buyback program is more than the market capitalization of companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and AirBnB. Its buyback program is valued at more than 84% of S&P 500 companies at the time of writing.
Its market capitalization stands over $2.8 trillion, making it the world’s second-largest company.
The Bottom Line
Apple is one of the world’s most renowned technology companies and a member of the Magnificent Seven. It’s also the second most valuable company in the world, currently just trailing behind Microsoft.
Its history of strong dividends and an impressive share buyback program are positive signs for investors. Due to its size and popularity, it can be bought through the majority of online brokerages.
Do your own research and always remember your investment decision depends on your attitude to risk, your expertise in the stock market, the spread of your portfolio, and how comfortable you feel about losing money.
The information in this guide does not constitute investment advice and is meant for informational purposes only.
