Apple Inc. $AAPL is Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Bristlecone Advisors LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 20,962 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.8% of Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $45,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.41.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone 17 demand drove better-than-expected Q1 results and margin expansion, supporting upgrades and a more bullish outlook for revenue and profitability. The iPhone 17 Changed Everything For Apple – See China (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Big banks reiterated bullish calls (Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan) citing continued iPhone 17 strength — analyst support is lifting sentiment and contributed to price-target increases. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Bullish on Apple Inc. (AAPL) on Strong iPhone 17 Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages raised price targets and upgraded Apple after the quarter, adding buy-side momentum and helping push the stock higher. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $315.00
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI launched a Codex coding-assistant app for Apple computers, highlighting tighter AI app integration in the Mac ecosystem and potential demand/support for Mac hardware and services. OpenAI Unveils Codex App for Use with Apple (AAPL) Computers
• Positive Sentiment: Report that Apple acquired Israeli AI/audio startup Q.ai (≈$2B) strengthens the company’s AI content/capability pipeline and supports the AI narrative. Apple Inc. (AAPL) Acquires Israeli Startup Q.ai For Approximately $2 Billion: Report
• Neutral Sentiment: T. Rowe Price launched an active Innovation Leaders ETF that lists Apple as a core holding — potential incremental passive/active inflows but not immediate earnings impact. Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft Anchor T. Rowe Price’s New Active ETF Targeting Innovators
• Neutral Sentiment: India’s policy allowing foreign-funded equipment for contract manufacturers is a structural win for Apple’s India build-out and long-term cost/scale — supports supply diversification. India hands Apple a win by letting foreign firms fund equipment for manufacturers
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures in the feed are effectively zero/erroneous and aren’t influencing the move; no clear short-squeeze signal from this data. (Source: short-interest entry)
• Negative Sentiment: Supply risk: TSMC’s capacity shift toward AI chips (Nvidia demand) could squeeze Apple’s wafer allocations and exacerbate chip constraints, a risk to near-term production and inventory. Nvidia’s AI Takeover Leaves Apple Fighting For Supply
• Negative Sentiment: Talent and margin pressure: reports of AI researcher departures and commentary that rising AI-driven parts demand could lift component costs create medium-term execution and margin risks. Apple Loses More AI Researchers to Meta and Google The AI Boom Is Coming for Apple’s Profit Margins

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $270.05 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is presently 13.15%.

Apple 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.