Bell Bank Has $15 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Bell Bank trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,187 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,274 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Bell Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Bell Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.23.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $253.50 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $260.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.76. The company has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.26 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple joined Anthropic, Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia in Project Glasswing, a security-focused AI collaboration—this underscores Apple’s participation in enterprise-grade AI/security initiatives and supports its strategy of privacy-integrated AI features. Anthropic Teams With Apple, Microsoft And Nvidia To Test Latest Cybersecurity Tech
• Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain evidence of an AI/hardware cycle is benefiting Apple’s ecosystem: Foxconn’s strong revenue tied to AI demand and reports of elevated Mac Mini orders for on-device AI support point to durable hardware demand beyond any single product. Foxconn Revenue Surges 30% Thanks To AI Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s MacBook Neo and continued strength in iPhone 17/Mac Mini sales provide alternative growth levers (ecosystem expansion, cheaper device top-of-funnel and high‑margin services), which help cushion the stock against hardware-specific setbacks. Apple’s stock could surge 20%, and the MacBook Neo could be a key catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street checks (KeyBanc, Evercore/others) note improving demand signals heading into earnings, which supports the view that near-term headline risk may be temporary versus structural revenue weakness. Is Apple Stock (AAPL) a Buy Ahead of Earnings as Demand Picks Up? KeyBanc Weighs In
• Neutral Sentiment: Bloomberg/TechCrunch reported the foldable iPhone is still targeted for a September launch—this counter-report helped intraday recovery and highlights mixed sourcing; investors must weigh Nikkei’s earlier claims vs. Bloomberg’s. Apple’s foldable iPhone is on track to launch in September, report says
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple filed to seek Supreme Court review in its long-running App Store dispute with Epic—potentially a material legal outcome over time, but an uncertain and prolonged process. Apple plans Supreme Court appeal in Epic Games App Store battle — again
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets (Nikkei, Reuters, Nikkei-sourced stories) reported engineering snags in the foldable iPhone’s testing—hinge and screen durability issues that could push shipments back months. That narrative is the primary near-term reason shares are lower as it threatens a major hardware catalyst. Apple’s foldable iPhone encounters engineering snags, faces potential shipment delays
• Negative Sentiment: China’s Supreme People’s Court upheld key AI patents for Xiao‑I in a dispute with Apple—this raises regulatory and IP risk in a critical market and has already moved investor attention to potential costs or feature limitations in China. Xiao-I (AIXI) Stock Explodes Over 500% Following Major Chinese Supreme Court Victory Against Apple
• Negative Sentiment: App Store growth has slowed (UBS flagged March quarter trends), and any sustained services cooling would pressure valuation since services underpin Apple’s margin resilience. Apple Holds Steady: UBS Keeps Neutral Rating as App Store Growth Slows to 7% in March Quarter

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.