(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) became the first $1 trillion publicly listed U.S. company on Thursday, crowning a decade-long rise fueled by its ubiquitous iPhone that transformed it from a niche player in personal computers into a global powerhouse spanning entertainment and communications.
Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, U.S., August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
COMMENTS:
PAUL NOLTE, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, KINGSVIEW ASSET MANAGEMENT, CHICAGO, WHO OWNS APPLE:
“Do we all get hats for this? To be honest, I don’t know if it has any big implications. Apple is so different than the other tech stocks in the FAANG group... So I don’t know if there are any implications for the FAANG group or technology in general because you had a really very uneven earnings season, with some issues unique to each of those companies, so it’s hard to generalize.
“I would expect to see the dividend increase, announced at their annual meeting. For those that hold Apple, it’s reasonably priced here. We’ve owned it for three or four years now, and it’s probably our second- or third-largest holding. I have trimmed it over the last 12 months just because it was large compared to the rest of the portfolio, so I may do that again if it continues to rise. If it goes up to say $250, I’d trim it a little bit.
“My concern generally speaking is the FAANG stocks are just incredibly large relative to the rest of the market, and with a lot of passive money going into the S&P 500, ultimately a lot of money goes into those FAANG stocks by default. So it’s a self -perpetuating machine.”
“Amazon is the next closest and given
