Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lowered by Cacti Asset Management LLC

Cacti Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 506,134 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,402 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 8.5% of Cacti Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $138,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $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.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: China iPhone demand is accelerating — iPhone sales in the first nine weeks of 2026 jumped ~23%, outpacing a weak overall market and supporting revenue growth and regional resilience. Apple’s China smartphone sales jump 23% to start 2026, bucking industry trend
• Positive Sentiment: Legal win for Apple Watch — a U.S. trade‑tribunal judge preliminarily ruled Apple’s redesigned watches do not infringe Masimo patents, blocking a fresh import ban and removing a regulatory/legal overhang on watch sales. Apple fends off bid for new Apple Watch import ban at US trade tribunal
• Positive Sentiment: AI & services monetization helping the top line — reports estimate Apple earned roughly $900M from AI-related activity last year with App Store fees a growing recurring revenue stream projected to approach $1B. This underpins the services/AI revenue narrative even as hardware competition intensifies. Apple Made $900M From AI Last Year While Rivals Burned Through Cash
• Positive Sentiment: Product & ecosystem updates — Apple refreshed AirPods Max and closed a MotionVFX deal to deepen creator tools and services, supporting wearables and services revenue opportunities. The Morning After: Apple’s surprise AirPods Max refresh – Engadget Apple’s MotionVFX Deal Deepens Creator Studio And Services Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: App Store fee cut in China — Apple trimmed its mainland China App Store commission to 25%, a regulatory concession that helps local relations and may boost app ecosystem activity but could modestly reduce services take‑rate. Apple (AAPL) Stock Rises as Tim Cook Tours China Amid App Store Fee Reduction to 25%
• Neutral Sentiment: Tim Cook’s China visit raises confidence in market strategy — management’s high‑visibility trip and messaging reduce geopolitical uncertainty in a key market but don’t immediately change fundamentals. Apple Stock (AAPL) Opinions on Tim Cook’s China Visit
• Negative Sentiment: Security alert — Apple urged users to update iOS after discovery of new spyware able to take over older iPhones; heightened security risk can hurt user trust and raise support/cost issues. Apple issues iPhone spyware alert to users
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling & capex signal concerns — disclosures show sustained insider sales and reports note Apple is the only “Mag 7” firm with declining capex, which some investors view as underinvestment for long‑term AI and hardware initiatives. Apple Stock (AAPL) Opinions on Tim Cook’s China Visit (insider data) Fun Fact: Apple (AAPL) Is the Only Mag 7 Company Whose Capex Is Declining
• Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain shift risk — TSMC reporting Nvidia as its largest customer highlights industry re‑ranking in AI compute demand; TSMC’s shift toward Nvidia could signal lower relative wafer demand from Apple over time. TSMC: Nvidia Overtakes Apple as Top Customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data shows anomalies — filings today show effectively zero reported short interest (likely a data error), so no clear short‑pressure signal from short positions. Market data (short interest summary)

Apple Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $248.96 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Phillip Securities raised Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, CLSA lifted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.58.

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.