Avant Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Avant Financial Advisors LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,490 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.4% of Avant Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Avant Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in 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 in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is in talks to launch Apple Pay in India later this year — a large addressable market that could boost Services revenue and long‑term payment volume growth. Apple talks with banks to start payment service in India, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: Apple asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class-action accusing it of overstating Siri AI progress — a legal defense that, if successful, would limit potential financial and reputational fallout. Apple seeks dismissal of fraud lawsuit over Siri AI, Epic injunction
• Positive Sentiment: Netflix will stream season eight of “Drive to Survive” on Apple TV and will broadcast the Canadian F1 Grand Prix live in the U.S. — a content partnership that supports Apple TV+ engagement and Services monetization. Netflix and Apple TV join forces on F1 content
• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook teased multiple product launches next week (new MacBooks, iPads, iPhone 17e) — potential near-term revenue catalysts and reasons for increased investor attention. Tim Cook Teases Apple Launch On Monday: Here’s What To Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: MoffettNathanson raised Apple’s price target to $270 but kept a “neutral” rating — a modest analyst repricing that signals mixed near‑term conviction despite strong fundamentals. Finviz
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan highlights “AI companions” as a potential long-term tailwind for Apple — a bullish thematic view that supports multi‑year upside but is not an immediate earnings driver. AI Companions Could Make Apple Stock an AI Winner, Says J.P. Morgan
• Negative Sentiment: Spain’s antitrust regulator says Apple (and Amazon) were slow to comply with an order to remove anti‑competitive clauses — an active regulatory matter that could force contract or distribution changes and increase legal/compliance costs. Spain’s antitrust watchdog says Apple, Amazon took too long to refine anti-competitive contracts
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI hired a researcher who previously led Apple’s models team — a signal that AI talent is mobile and competition for top engineers remains intense, which could slow Apple’s AI roadmap execution. OpenAI hires Meta AI researcher who previously led Apple’s models team
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that several marquee investors trimmed Apple positions (Buffett, Dalio, Griffin) add psychological selling pressure and raise questions about near‑term insider/institutional conviction. Ken Griffin, Ray Dalio, and Warren Buffett All Sold More Apple Stock. Should You?

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $264.85 and a 200-day moving average of $258.95. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 13.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. DZ Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.41.

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.