Apple Inc. $AAPL is Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Blue Square Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,274 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,548 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.1% of Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 41.0% in the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Apple

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KGI Securities raised Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.70.

Apple Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $278.12 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $268.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.18.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 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.