Morgan Stanley: Institutional Investors Still Light on Apple Shares

06 SEPTEMBER 2022 - Pat Benatar sang, “Love is a Battlefield.” Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring says, “Apple's stock remains a battleground…”

I don’t know. Maybe if he sang it.

Apple 3.0 ran part of a note Woodring wrote late last week. Therein he said, “Apple's stock remains a battleground amongst investors, with bulls” being all for it, and bears being all bearish. He’s also picked up where his predecessor, Katy Huberty, left off - arguing that “institutional investors are positioned neutral/negative” on Apple shares. As a reminder, the site Investopedia says:

Institutional ownership is the amount of a company’s available stock owned by mutual or pension funds, insurance companies, investment firms, private foundations, endowments or other large entities that manage funds on behalf of others.

While Huberty noted a slight uptick in institutional investment in Apple this time last year, it was still low as far as she was concerned. Now, Mr. Woodring picks up the next verse. It’s cool though. Leaves room for upside, seems to be his thinking. Quoting his note:

…we still believe that institutional investors are positioned neutral/negative, and any positive surprises on iPhone pricing, new features, carrier/channel subsidies and/or other products launched can help shares re-rate towards our $180 price target.

Mr. Woodring has an “Overweight” rating on Apple shares.