Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Buys New Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,655,000. Apple accounts for about 1.2% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $290,506,933,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $272.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $264.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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 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 previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.15%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple will shift some Mac Mini production to a Foxconn plant in Houston and expand U.S. manufacturing capacity, supporting supply-chain resilience and political/geographic diversification. This underpins revenue predictability and reduces single‑country concentration risk. Apple to move some Mac Mini production to U.S. this year
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholders re-elected Apple’s board and approved company proposals at the 2026 annual meeting, signaling continued investor confidence in management and governance continuity. Apple Shareholders Reelect Board and Approve 2026 Proposals
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent investors/strategists are overweight Apple — Seeking Alpha highlights a large-conviction allocation and notes buybacks as an upside support mechanism, which can boost EPS and investor sentiment. Why Daily Stock Picks’ Gary Vaughan Likes Large Cap Tech (And Energy)
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are eyeing Apple’s March 4 product event (iPhone 17E, new MacBooks, etc.) as a potential revenue catalyst; successful launches historically lift sentiment ahead of earnings. Should You Buy Apple Stock Before Its New Product Launch on March 4?
• Neutral Sentiment: New crypto derivatives (tokenized perpetual futures) list Apple as an underlying, widening ways for international traders to gain 24/7 leveraged exposure — may increase trading flows but not company fundamentals. Kraken debuts tokenized stock perpetual futures for non-US traders
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed but skewed bullish on balance (multiple buy/outperform ratings and a median 6‑12 month target above current levels); that supports momentum but leaves room for dispersion. Apple Stock: Is AAPL Underperforming the Technology Sector?
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing concerns about Apple’s slower rollout of AI features into Siri (and competition from Alphabet/others) are flagged as a meaningful growth risk if services/AI monetization lags peers. This “Siri-ous” Problem Could Be the Biggest Threat to Apple Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical supply‑chain risk remains elevated after reporting that U.S. intelligence briefed executives on potential China‑Taiwan scenarios — any escalation would threaten Taiwan-based fabs that supply Apple chips. The Reason Tim Cook ‘Sleeps With One Eye Open’

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Maxim Group raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.13.

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.