Centaurus Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 199,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $50,883,000. Apple accounts for about 2.4% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.4% in the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. 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 period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, CLSA raised their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.58.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook’s trip to China and Apple cutting App Store commission in mainland China to 25% reduces regulatory friction and should help restore relations with large developers/partners in the world’s biggest iPhone market; that eases geopolitical/regulatory risk even if it modestly trims revenue per transaction. Apple (AAPL) Stock Rises as Tim Cook Tours China Amid App Store Fee Reduction to 25%
• Positive Sentiment: New product refreshes — AirPods Max 2 and a refreshed MacBook lineup with M5 chips — support near-term revenue and margin upside in wearables and Macs; Evercore reaffirming Outperform on Mac refreshes adds bullish analyst support. Apple Expands Wearables Portfolio With New AirPods Max Apple Launches New MacBook Lineup with M5 Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic M&A and partnerships — MotionVFX acquisition to deepen Final Cut Pro/creator offerings and a first-ever Beats × Nike hardware tie-up — help Services and accessory ecosystems, supporting higher‑margin, recurring revenue paths. Apple’s MotionVFX Deal Deepens Creator Studio And Services Ecosystem Nike partners with Apple’s Beats
• Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain signals: stronger demand at suppliers for AI/data-center components (e.g., Jabil’s better results) imply healthier component flows for Apple’s future device/AI plans. That supports execution and product cadence. Jabil Quietly Manufactures an Accelerating Stock Price Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and fair‑value chatter: some outlets nudge fair value targets modestly higher on AI and new products but stress rising component costs and uneven regional demand — mixed inputs that leave consensus estimates largely intact for now. How The Apple (AAPL) Investment Narrative Is Shifting
• Neutral Sentiment: Data point on short interest appears to be a reporting anomaly (zero/NaN entries) and offers no clear signal about bearish positioning; treat with caution until clean data is available.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of talent departures and internal leadership scrutiny raise execution concerns for AI and product initiatives; investor worry about management continuity has increased speculation (some prediction‑market headlines). Apple’s talent exodus concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Analyses that flag the Magnificent Seven’s stretched valuations and moderating growth reduce the sector’s multiple support — a sector‑level headwind for AAPL despite company fundamentals. Mag 7 Or ‘Lag 7?’ A Quant Review
• Negative Sentiment: Product risk headlines — e.g., critical iPhone 18 coverage and public criticism about long app‑review times — can weigh on near‑term sentiment and developer relations. Apple just got a brutal iPhone 18 warning Elon Musk Has One Word for This Apple Problem

Apple Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of AAPL opened at $249.94 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. 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’s fifty day moving average is $261.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.