Heartland Bank & Trust Co Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,922 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,023 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 7.2% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% in the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after buying an additional 57,898,088 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.1%

AAPL opened at $257.46 on Monday. 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 current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised its street-high price target to $350, arguing Apple’s AI-capable Macs and refreshed product cycle could unlock ~33% upside — a clear bullish signal for investors. Wedbush $350 target
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators highlight Apple’s AI approach (hardware + Google Gemini partnership) as a profitability-focused alternative to the capex-heavy AI race — narrative supports margins and services monetization. AAPL Not Running AI Race Paying Off? iPhone & Google Gemini Add Tech Muscle
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s exclusive U.S. Formula 1 streaming deal for Apple TV expands services revenue and engagement — a structural positive for recurring revenue and ecosystem stickiness. Formula 1 and Apple’s big gamble
• Positive Sentiment: The MacBook Neo ($599) and entry-level iPhone broaden addressable market (students and price-sensitive buyers), which could modestly increase unit volumes and services attach over time. Apple Slashes Entry Price With MacBook Neo
• Neutral Sentiment: Smaller analyst moves: Rosenblatt nudged its PT slightly and Barclays revised targets in recent notes — these are incremental but keep the debate active on upside scope. Rosenblatt/Benzinga note
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains a staple in dividend-growth ETFs (e.g., DGRO), reinforcing long-term passive demand even amid short-term volatility. DGRO / Market context
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets reported an immediate share pullback after the budget-product announcements (concerns about margin dilution and the market’s rotation away from expensive Big Tech/AI spenders). That knee-jerk selling contributed to intraday weakness. Apple stock slid after MacBook Neo
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market pressure on AI-capex-heavy names and headlines about “Big Tech” valuation compression mean Apple can be caught up in sector moves even as company-specific fundamentals remain strong. Big Tech valuation rotation
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in some feeds showed a spike but the reports contain inconsistent values (0 shares / NaN) — treat that as likely reporting noise rather than evidence of a large coordinated short. (No reliable source link available in the feed.)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.58.

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.