Blalock Williams LLC Buys Shares of 10,067 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Blalock Williams LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,067 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,563,000. Apple accounts for approximately 2.2% of Blalock Williams LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $290,506,933,000 after buying an additional 15,141,995 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $278.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $268.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.18. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 159.94%. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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 currently 13.15%.

More Apple News

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up previously from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.70.

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.