Fire Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Fire Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 86.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,568 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,913 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.4% of Fire Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Fire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,537 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,701,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Melius Research set a $345.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Melius upped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Apple stock opened at $259.37 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $272.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Late‑season strength in iPhone 17 demand suggests the handset cycle could keep Services and upgrade momentum intact — a near‑term revenue tailwind for AAPL. iPhone 17 Demand Lifts AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan Chase will become the new issuer of the Apple Card, expanding Apple’s financial‑services ecosystem and potentially boosting Services engagement (though direct financial upside for Apple is likely modest). JPMorgan Chase becomes the new issuer of the Apple Card
• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street commentators remain constructive — analysts raising targets and pundits like Jim Cramer arguing Apple deserves a premium multiple on its combination of iPhone strength and AI roadmap. That supports buy‑the‑dip narrative. Analyst lifts Apple stock target to $330
• Neutral Sentiment: Technicals and short‑term positioning: commentators point to an oversold setup and support levels that may produce a rebound, but that depends on catalysts (earnings cadence, AI product news). Stock Of The Day: Is Apple About To Bounce?
• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore and other research houses note overlooked strengths (services, iPhone demand) versus valuation worries — implies mixed near‑term outlook but continued conviction among some buy‑side firms. Apple’s stock falls for the eighth straight day
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / app‑store risk: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to remove X and Grok after reports the AI tools enabled creation/sharing of sexualized images of minors — this raises content‑moderation and legal risk scrutiny tied to app‑store governance. Grok and X should be suspended from Apple, Google app stores
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and AI concerns: chatter about Apple lagging peers in AI, analyst downgrades and Alphabet surpassing Apple in market cap are pressuring sentiment and valuation multiples. Can Apple Enjoy a “Siri Surge” as Apple Catches Up in AI?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and some institutional portfolio rotations have been noted in recent filings, which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if not indicative of fundamental deterioration. QuiverQuant Apple AI strategy and downgrades

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.