Apple's Most Relevant Q1 Institutional Investors

With the 13F filing season finally over, it’s time to look into Apple Inc. AAPL’s stats for the first quarter of the year. As usual, the tech behemoth was the most popular stock amongst institutional investors, with more than 2,100 firms placing bets on it according to WhaleWisdom.

The aggregate value of these positions surpasses $421 billion.

The stock was amongst the top 10 picks of more than 1,100 investment firms. Between January and March, inclusive, Apple saw 121 institutions (amongst the ones WhaleWisdom tracks) start new positions, another 862 increase their stakes, and only 69 leave.

Below are the most prominent positions and moves of the quarter.

Institutional Investors

The Vanguard Group is the largest known investor in Apple, with more than $40.6 billion in stock, or 326,966,007 shares. Even though the firm disposed of 5,273,556 shares of the company over the quarter, it maintains its front-runner spot, and keeps Apple as its largest equity position.

State Street came in second, with 237,009,682 shares, worth almost $30 billion. Again, the firm reduced its exposure to the tech giant by 8,651,973 shares, but still maintains it as its most valuable pick. Similar was the case for FMR LLC, which, after selling 1,963,426 shares, owns 176,998,331 shares of the company.

Related Link: Carl Icahn: Apple Shares Now Worth $240

Hedge Fund Investors

Among hedge fund investors, Carl Icahn is known to be the largest. The famed investor and corporate raider left his wager untouched over the quarter, at 52,760,848 shares. However, the position gained in value, from the $5.82 billion declared by the end of the fourth quarter of last year, to $6.56 billion as of March 31, 2015.

Another big hedge fund investor continues to be Ken Fisher, of Fisher Asset Management, who purchased 46,608 shares over the quarter, taking the fund’s holdings to 10,810,557 shares worth more than $1.3 billion.

One more fund has a billion-dollar long stake in Apple: Adage Capital Partners managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson. The firm last disclosed ownership of 8,872,252 shares of the company valued at $1.1 billlion.

Other Moves

Apple didn’t see any big new positions started over the quarter. Green Square Capital was responsible for the largest new stake, comprising barely 54,080 shares, worth about $6.2 million.

Nonetheless, the company did see some important positions closed. Norges Bank sold all of its 45,855,072 shares between January and April, while hedge fund OZ Management disposed of its 1,578,597 shares.

Finally, Capital Research Global Investors sold 14,140,107 shares, taking its holdings to almost half (15,702,200 shares), and HSBC Holdings purchased 14,357,416 shares, now owning 26,504,762 shares of the company.