World Equity Group Inc. Buys 26,422 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

World Equity Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,933 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 26,422 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.4% of World Equity Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% during the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Roundup

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

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $259.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $268.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. CLSA boosted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Stephens set a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.