Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock has rallied an impressive 52% in the last 12 months. That must have made many of the U.S. Congressmen happy. According to data compiled by the Berkeley, California-based nonpartisan research group MapLight, as many as 48 members of Congress (or their spouses) hold stakes in Apple.
Apple fifth most popular stock among Congressmen
MapLight obtained the data from the ‘personal financial disclosures’ (PFDs) that members of Congress are required to file every year, disclosing their sources of income and various assets. Legislatures have to disclose only minimum and maximum values of their assets, rather than providing the exact figures.
The biggest investor in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D- Calif.) husband, Paul Pelosi. Mr Pelosi owns Apple shares worth between $1 million and $5 million. He was followed by Rep. James Renacci (R-Ohio) with Apple shares worth between $300,000 and $750,000. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) occupied the third spot with Apple stock worth between $250,000 and $500,000.
Apple is the fifth most popular stock among Congressmen, according to MapLight. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) topped the list with 69 members of Congress holding shares, following by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Surprisingly, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) couldn’t make it to the top 15. The search engine giant was ranked 25th with only 29 members of Congress (or their spouses) holding its shares.
Does this lead to a conflict of interest?
NBC News notes that most of the Congressmen aren’t new to Capitol Hill. So chances are their investments are at least two decades old. General Electric, Apple, Procter & Gamble, and Microsoft fall into that category. However, a big question is whether their ownership of these stocks creates a conflict of interest?
Do our Congress members fight for these juggernauts to improve their investment returns? Over the last decade, many large tech companies were almost untouched. But Google at No.25 witnessed so many security probes.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares inched up 0.58% to $114.84 at 10:38 AM EST on Monday.
