Summary
Apple Inc. is a multinational corporation based in the United States that produces smartphones, personal computers, and other electronic items. With a market capitalization of $2.3 trillion, it is the world’s largest company, ahead of giants like Microsoft and Walmart. Apple stocks have become some of the most valuable stocks to buy and own, thanks to their impressive product line and updates, which have found a home in the Western culture and other cultures of the world.
Buying Apple shares is a valuable investment, but not every investor knows how to go about it the right way. In this guide, we will go through various guidelines for investors who wish to buy Apple shares but don’t know how to go about it. The guide will also drop a lot of tips to help non-US citizens choose an online stockbroker, create an account and buy the shares without hassle.
There are a few steps to take before you can buy shares in Apple. They are:
- Select an Online Stockbroker
- Create a Brokerage Account
- Deposit Funds
- Buy Apple Shares
- Manage your Apple Positions
Pros
- Relatively Safer than other Stocks
- Moderate Cash Dividends
- Good History of Growth
Cons
- Production issues that cause lower revenue
Investing in Apple shares may not be for every investor. Before you put your money into Apple stocks, there are factors you must consider. Some of them are:
Commissions & Fees
Buying Apple shares is not free. Brokers often charge fees and commissions for using their services, so you need to factor that into your trading costs. Depending on the broker, there are different types of fees you might pay when you buy Apple stock. Some of these fees include Spread, Deposit/Withdrawal fees, Inactivity fee, Conversion fee, and Commission.
Stock Brokers Regulation
It is important that a stock broker is well-regulated by trustworthy regulatory bodies before choosing to trade with them. There are many regulatory bodies globally, with a major one in every country/region. For example, in the United States, the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (U.S. SEC) all regulate stock brokers offering their services to US citizens, while in Australia, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is responsible for regulating brokers within that region.
No matter where you stay, there are regulatory bodies that ensure stock brokers take measures to safeguard traders’ funds and personal information. Before you choose a stock broker to trade Apple Stocks with, you need to check that they are regulated by the right bodies.
Trading Platforms
A trading platform is a computer software that gives brokers access to trade Apple shares on the stock market. The most widely-used trading platforms by brokers are MetaTrader (MT4 and MT5) and cTrader, although the majority of stock brokers today run their own proprietary trading platforms exclusively for their customers. These proprietary platforms are easily customizable, so they are often preferred to other well-known trading platforms.
Your choice of trading platform will have an effect on the kinds of charts, tables, news and other features you will have when trading. When choosing a broker to trade your Apple stocks with, choose the one with a trading platform you feel comfortable using.
Leverage Availability
Leverage trading involves traders borrowing money to open a position they normally wouldn’t be able to open with the amount in their trading account. To access leverage, traders must put down a percentage of the total amount of money required to open a trade. This percentage is called a margin.
In the case of Apple stock trading, traders can put a small margin down and gain access to a larger capital to buy more Apple stocks. Leverages are often represented in ratios, for example, 1:10 means a trader can put down 1/10 of the total trading capital required.
CFD trading is the only way to trade Apple shares with leverage. You can bet on the direction the Apple stock price will go in the future by using a Contract For Difference (CFD). This way, you can trade with leverage, and you don’t have to own a whole stock.
For traders interested in buying Apple shares with leverage, it is important that they find stock brokers that offer leverages (CFD stock brokers). Most regulated stock brokers often operate within leverage restrictions depending on their regions, so you need to take that into consideration too.
Apple Stock Performance
Before buying Apple stock, it is important you do your due diligence and study the stock performance over a period. Many traders have the false idea that they will buy a stock and profit crazily from it when it rises to insane heights in no time. That is hardly the case.
When studying Apple’s stock performance, there are many variables you need to confirm. You need to decide how long you wish to hold on to the stock regardless of the market conditions. To do this, you need to look at the all-time stock performance or the performance over a long period of time, like 3 years.
You also need to look at different factors that affect stock performance. How does a news release affect the stock price? Or an important piece of news? Also, it helps to compare the stock performance to other stocks in the same industry in the market.
When you have sufficient information about Apple stock performance, you can proceed to buy some.
Apple Past Dividends
Apple has been paying dividends on its stocks since 2012, after suspending it for over seventeen years. It pays dividends quarterly (four times a year) in February, May, August, and November. It has a relatively high dividend yield for a large and stable tech company, as opposed to other tech companies like Alphabet and Meta which don’t pay any dividends.
As of Q4 2022, it paid a dividend of $0.23 per share, at a 0.7% dividend yield. You can search for Apple stock dividend payout and yield, and analyze all the dates and payments. This gives you a deep picture of how you can expect your dividends to be paid.
As mentioned earlier, a trading platform is a piece of software that connects you to the stock market for the purpose of trading shares (Apple shares in this case). The common trading platforms are MetaTrader and cTrader. There are also proprietary trading platforms created by stock brokers exclusively for their customers.
All these trading platforms are often available on different kinds of devices with internet connections, including desktop and mobile devices. Generally, there are two major types of trading platforms you can use to buy Apple shares: desktop platforms and mobile applications.
Desktop Trading Platforms
Desktop trading platforms are trading software available for download on desktop devices. You can download the desktop trading app and use it on your desktop device with an internet connection. This includes common trading platforms like cTrader and MetaTrader (MT4 and MT5) and also proprietary trading platforms. MT5 is the most used third-party platform used to trade stocks, alongside the broker’s proprietary trading platforms.
Brokers like eToro and Capital.com offer proprietary trading platforms to their users, so you can place your trades and customize the platform to your taste. As a result, they do not offer integrations with other general trading platforms like the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) trading platform.
Mobile Apps
Mobile trading apps are applications on mobile devices that allow traders to buy Apple stocks on the go. You can install the mobile application on your Android or iOS devices and trade from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Most brokers offer their proprietary trading platforms as mobile apps for smartphone and tablet users. Trading platforms like MT4, MT5, and cTrader are also available on mobile applications.
Brokers like eToro and Capital.com offer mobile apps with their proprietary trading platforms. You can download these apps on your Google PlayStore and Apple Store for Android and iOS devices respectively.
There are many obvious benefits of using a mobile application when buying shares of Apple. For one, you can always carry your mobile device around, so you don’t have to miss out on any trades. Also, you get access to real-time news and notifications on your mobile devices on the go. This helps you react to information in time.
Apple shares aren’t cheap. You will need to pay the broker for using their platform to access the market, as well as other charges that are not directly related to trading. Generally, fees and commissions incurred when buying Apple shares can be divided into trading and non-trading fees.
Trading Fees
Trading fees are fees directly incurred from trading an instrument with a broker. These fees are only deducted when you actively carry out a trade. Examples of trading fees are:
- Spread: Spread is the most common trading fee you will encounter when buying shares of Apple. It is the difference between the bid and asks price of an Apple stock as offered by the broker.
- Conversion fee: Some brokers charge you a fee when you convert from one currency to another.
- Commission: Instead of spreads, some brokers make their money by charging you commissions on trades made. Some brokers like eToro and Capital.com are commission-free, which means that they don’t charge you a commission for trading on their platform.
Non-Trading Fees
These are fees that aren’t directly related to trading. These charges can be taken from your account even without you trading. Examples are:
- Inactivity fees: Most brokers charge you an inactivity fee for leaving your account dormant for a long time, usually 6 months or more.
- Deposit and Withdrawal fees: Most brokers charge you a fee for deposits and withdrawals made on your trading account.
About Apple (AAPL)
Apple, Inc. is one of the biggest names in technology and business worldwide. It was founded in 1976 by college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Apple came into the technology space with the goal of revolutionizing how people viewed technology, and it has succeeded wildly. It is now a household name, and its products have become devices that individuals in every developed and developing country around the world cannot do without. The company also has a handful of services like Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts and Apple Books available to smartphone users of all kinds of devices.
In August 2018, Apple became the first company to pass the $1 trillion dollar market cap, and it doubled that valuation in August 2020, just two years after. All over the world, Apple stocks are recognized as some of the most stable stocks any trader can buy. As of 2022, there are about 17 billion total Apple shares around the world.
According to recent information from Google Finance, Apple shares are currently traded at around $155 per share. You can get updated information on the price of Apple shares on Yahoo Finance. Apple’s share price dropped by about 27% in 2022 due to production issues in China after the resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. Still, it is the largest publicly traded company in the world regardless of the share price problems it may have.
There are many factors that affect the share price of Apple stocks. Some of them are:
- iPhone sales: iPhone sales account for over 50% of Apple’s revenue, so good iPhone sales can increase the value of Apple stocks, just as poor sales can radically reduce its value.
- Product release: The world is familiar with Steve Jobs’ famous speeches during the Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, and iPod product releases and ads. Since then, the world has constantly looked out for new Apple releases for innovative products with key features that make lives better. These releases can drastically affect Apple stock prices.
- Services: Though not as important as iPhone sales, Apple services also affect an important part of Apple’s revenue. An increased sales of services usually means better stock performance.
Before you start trading Apple stocks, it is important to get diverse viewpoints from traders who have traded or are still trading them. To do this, we have gone through comments on two famous social networks: Reddit and Quora.
Reddit is usually referred to as “the front page of the internet” because of how current information and trends are spread through the platform. We went through a lot of threads on Reddit to see what Redditors thought about buying Apple shares.
We saw a thread on the subreddit r/stocks where a Redditor asked if it was a good idea to buy Apple stocks just before the release of a new iPhone and sell after.
One Redditor commented on how it was a poor idea to buy stocks just before a main event and sell them immediately after. According to him, following this strategy historically yields terrible results. A better strategy was to buy and keep Apple (AAPL) stocks for life, as they are more valuable that way.
On another thread, a Redditor asked if Apple stocks were worth buying as he had just bought about 50 shares and was planning to hold them for over a year.
One redditor replied that it was always a safe option to bet on Apple as they are the company with the most cash in hand in the world today. This means they can always find a way to reinvest and invest more even when they are declining.
Another Redditor added that Apple was at a discount at the time the thread was posted, so buying from them was a great investment at that time. He added that although he thought Apple was a great stock, he didn’t like the fact that they relied on China heavily for production, leaving themselves open to problems when lockdowns, shipping, and shortages affect China. Still, he maintained that the stock was very safe overall.
Quora
Just like Reddit, Quora is one of the biggest social communities where users discuss everything from politics to social commentary and sports. We went through various Quora posts by users to find out what they thought about buying Apple shares.
The first post we came across was from a Quora user who wanted to know if it was alright to buy a single Apple share as a newbie investor.
One Quora user suggested using VTI to buy a stock index containing more than just Apple shares, instead of buying just one share. According to this user, portfolio diversification was important for investing.
Another Quora User has a different opinion, however. According to this user, buying indexes and diversification was a bad idea, especially for newbies. He suggested that investors should focus on “Steady and continual investment into great companies like Apple”, which was how great investors like Warren Buffet found success.
In another post, a Quora User answered the question “How do I acquire Apple shares?” by outlining a few actions that investors should take. According to the user, there were 3 steps to follow: You open an account at a licensed brokerage, deposit some money, and then use the money to buy shares of Apple. The user also stated that the ticker symbol for Apple is AAPL to avoid confusion when buying.
Bottom Line
Apple stocks are some of the most stable and on-demand stocks worldwide. As a result, most traders from all countries in the world want to buy them. In this guide, we provided a step-by-step process of how to buy Apple shares. We went through the background of Apple, Inc., the parent company and the kind of products they manufacture and sell. We also looked at all the factors that affect the price of Apple shares and how it has changed in recent times. We also looked at the dividends offered by Apple to shareholders.
We talked about factors to consider when choosing a broker and buying Apple shares. Things like the broker’s regulation, fees and commission, Apple stock performance, and past dividends are all important when buying Apple stocks. Another important factor to look at is the trading platform offered by the broker, as the wrong choice of trading platforms could mean trading without good charts and other trading tools. Check that the broker has trading platforms you want on both mobile and desktop devices.
Fees and commissions are also important when trading Apple stocks. Find brokers with low fees and commissions and sign up for their services. Ensure you read all the associated trading and non-trading fees of every broker before you sign up with them.
Most traders on social communities and forums believe that Apple is a good and stable stock investment, thanks to the good company valuation and their cash in hand, which allows them to reinvest even when their valuation is dropping.
Q & A
Apple, Inc. had its IPO on December 12, 1980, selling at $22/share.
As of the 30th of January, 2023, the price of an Apple stock is $154.50. You can check for updated Apple share prices on Yahoo Finance.
As of the end of 2022, Apple had 16,030,382,000 shares outstanding.
The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the largest shareholder of Apple shares, holding over 1.3 billion shares outstanding.
It costs $154.50 to buy an Apple share (As at January 30, 2023).
An Apple stock split happens when the company decides to split the existing shares, causing reduced prices. The last split occurred in 2020, when Apple did a 4-for-1 split, meaning each share was split into 4 shares. Prior to this, the company did a 7-for-1 stock split in 2014.
Apple stock buybacks occur when the company buys back its own shares and removes them from the public. In the 2022 fiscal year, Apple spent almost $90 billion to buy back its shares from the market.
You can invest in Apple shares in different ways. You can buy the stocks using brokers like eToro, or a fraction of the shares (called fractional shares) using brokers like Fidelity and Charles Schwab. You can also invest using CFDs to bet on the price direction of the stock.
Yes, you can trade Apple shares with leverage as long as it is legal in your country and allowed by your broker.
You can buy Apple shares on any of the stock exchanges it is listed on by using a traditional or online broker, like eToro, Capital.com, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, etc.
The brokers with the cheapest Apple share price are brokers with low commissions and tight spreads. eToro and Capital.com offer zero commission and tight spreads, so they are some of the cheapest brokers to buy Apple shares.
Yes, Apple shares can be traded as CFDs.
Whether or not you should buy Apple shares depends on your trading goals and strategy. Apple stocks are more stable than many other stocks and have good potential for growth. They also pay dividends, so you might want to add that to your consideration when deciding whether to buy them or not.
