Apple Inc. $AAPL is Bender Robert & Associates’ 2nd Largest Position

Bender Robert & Associates lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 291,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,593 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 16.0% of Bender Robert & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $74,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 41.0% during the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up previously from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $281.70.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $248.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $269.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs urges buying the dip ahead of Apple’s Jan. 29 earnings, citing expected robust iPhone sales — a near-term analyst push that can drive short-term inflows. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat argues Apple’s recent sell-off may be overdone and highlights extreme technical oversold signals plus strong fundamentals and buyback support — this framing can attract value buyers ahead of earnings. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s AI roadmap (Siri chatbot/Campos integration and reports of an AI wearable pin) remains a growth narrative investors are rewarding; new AI features could lift services and hardware ASPs over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership signal — Apple broadened hardware chief John Ternus’s remit to include design work, underlining succession planning and operational continuity (a governance/continuity positive for long-term holders). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain/localization update: Pegatron (Apple supplier) expects its first U.S. plant to be completed by end-March with trial production to follow — supports resilience and potential tariff/production flexibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI reaffirmed an Outperform on AAPL ahead of earnings, adding to institutional buy-side conviction that could underpin the stock into results. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF concentration note — large passive funds (e.g., iShares OEF) hold elevated AAPL weightings; that increases index-driven flows but also concentration risk for funds. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term performance pieces and retrospectives (e.g., what $1k in AAPL looks like today) provide sentiment/context but are unlikely to move the stock near-term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: Apple asked an Indian court to block the antitrust regulator from seeking global financial records in an app-store probe — the investigation itself is a headline regulatory risk that could weigh on sentiment until resolved. Read More.

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.