Apple Shares Outstanding: A Detailed Analysis

Overview

Apple's shares outstanding are a key metric that investors use to gauge the company's financial health. As of December 31, 2023, Apple had 15,577 billion shares outstanding, a 2.38% decline year-over-year. This decline was primarily due to Apple's ongoing share buyback program, which has been reducing the number of shares outstanding for several years.

Historical Data

Apple's shares outstanding have steadily increased over the long term. In 1980, the company had just 429 million shares outstanding. By 2000, that number had grown to 1.23 billion shares. And by 2010, Apple had over 9 billion shares outstanding.

The following chart shows Apple's shares outstanding over the past 10 years:

Institutional Ownership

As of April 2024, institutions owned approximately 1,594 billion shares of Apple, or 10.24% of the company's outstanding shares. This is a significant increase from 2010, when institutions owned just 6.6% of Apple's shares.

Insider Ownership

Insiders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and other company executives, owned approximately 1,541 billion shares, or 9.9% of the company's outstanding shares. This is a relatively small percentage of ownership, but it is still significant given the size of Apple's market capitalization.

Conclusion

Apple's shares outstanding are a key metric that investors use to assess the company's financial health. The company's shares outstanding have declined in recent years due to its ongoing share buyback program. However, Apple's shares outstanding are still significantly higher than they were a decade ago. This is a reflection of the company's strong financial performance and its commitment to returning cash to shareholders.