Narwhal Capital Management Sells 2,402 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Narwhal Capital Management reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 272,566 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,402 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.1% of Narwhal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $69,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. grew its position in Apple by 13.2% during the second quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the second quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $101,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,446 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarter driven by iPhone 17 and China — Apple beat revenue and EPS expectations, reported record iPhone sales and gave strong March-quarter revenue/margin guidance, supporting bullish near-term fundamentals. Apple sales, profit beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target increases — Several firms raised targets and reiterated buy ratings after the beat (including TD Cowen, JPMorgan, Monness Crespi & Hardt), which supports upside sentiment among institutional investors. Analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: AI strategy remains ambiguous — Apple announced partnerships (e.g., Google Gemini) and made AI-related M&A (Q.ai), but offered limited execution details; these moves signal intent but leave monetization and competitive positioning unclear. AI details unclear
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential supply-chain diversification — Reports that Apple is exploring U.S. foundry partners (e.g., Intel) could ease long-term sourcing risk but are early-stage and not an immediate fix for 2026 capacity issues. Intel foundry reports
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs and shortages — Apple warned memory prices are beginning to bite; suppliers like Samsung and SK Hynix are prioritizing AI chips, tightening supply and pressuring gross margins if costs stay elevated. Memory cost warning
• Negative Sentiment: iPhone production constraints — Multiple reports say TSMC/other chip shortages are limiting Apple’s ability to meet iPhone demand, forcing Apple to prioritize premium models and potentially capping unit growth despite strong demand. TSMC supply short
• Negative Sentiment: Talent and execution questions in AI — Reports of AI researcher departures and commentary that the Google partnership could limit Apple’s AI upside have soured investor enthusiasm for Apple’s AI prospects. AI researcher departures

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.23.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $259.48 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 171.22%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

About Apple

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.