Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Trimmed by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,297 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,786 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the third quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 188,740 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $48,059,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673 shares during the period. Sutton Place Investors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC now owns 18,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,626,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. MBE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,022 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,533,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC now owns 5,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, BostonPremier Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. BostonPremier Wealth LLC now owns 33,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,488,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.70.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple preparing to allow third‑party voice AI/chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) in CarPlay — a strategic shift that could boost in‑car services, user engagement and partnerships across the AI ecosystem. Apple plans to allow external voice-controlled AI chatbots in CarPlay
• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q1 results (higher‑than‑expected revenue and EPS, large iPhone sales) continue to support investor confidence and explain why AAPL is outperforming many Big Tech peers after the AI‑led sell‑off.
• Positive Sentiment: EU says Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act — avoids potential regulatory constraints and commercial disruption in Europe. Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under Digital Markets Act, says EU
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and bullish price targets remain — several firms have reiterated Outperform/Overweight calls and above‑consensus targets (median recent target ~$310), underpinning investor interest. Evercore ISI stays Outperform on Apple
• Positive Sentiment: Inclusion in new Big Tech ETF offerings and continued institutional buying signal durable demand from funds and passive vehicles. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data currently shows anomalies (reporting zeros/NaN) and offers no clear signal on bearish positioning — not market‑moving as reported.
• Neutral Sentiment: Global memory‑chip shortages raise questions about iPhone pricing vs. margin trade‑offs; could preserve margins (price increases) or dent volume if Apple raises prices — impact unclear near term. Pricier iPhones? Global memory chip crunch puts spotlight on Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Apple has scaled back its AI health‑coach initiative (project “Mulberry”), highlighting execution and monetization challenges for new paid services tied to health/wearables. That could temper parts‑of‑services growth expectations. Apple Scales Back AI Health Coach Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling is visible in regulatory filings; while routine at large cap firms, it can be interpreted negatively by some investors when concentrated.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

Apple stock opened at $278.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $268.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.15%.

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.