Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,765 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,158 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.0% of Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $42,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nova R Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 393.0% during the fourth quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 25,611 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,963,000 after buying an additional 20,416 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 34,304 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,326,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 56,331 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,314,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 386,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $105,046,000 after buying an additional 2,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,675 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,970,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 2.1%

AAPL stock opened at $258.90 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $260.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.73. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.89 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and reports say Apple’s foldable iPhone remains on track for a fall launch, calming earlier delay fears and removing a key short‑term overhang on the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for Macs — especially higher‑end models — is driving longer lead times, a signal of healthy hardware demand that supports revenue and margins. That dynamic likely helped shares today. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is participating in advanced AI/cybersecurity testing (Anthropic’s initiatives/Project Glasswing), reinforcing its positioning in enterprise/security AI without committing to costly frontier model buildouts. That reduces structural AI risk and is viewed favorably by investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile endorsements and comments — including Warren Buffett noting he’d like to buy more Apple stock (though “not in this market”) — support sentiment that AAPL remains a core mega‑cap holding. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI’s shutdown of its Sora app highlights challenges for AI‑first consumer products; indirect to Apple, but it clarifies where AI economics favor integration over standalone, which aligns with Apple’s measured AI approach. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Isolated consumer anecdotes (e.g., a fraud case where stolen funds were spent on Apple products) are headline‑grabbing but have negligible corporate or financial impact. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier reports of engineering snags on the foldable iPhone and signs of an App Store slowdown pressured the stock this week and remain risk factors that can trigger volatility if updated negatively. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: China legal/patent developments (a Xiao‑I victory and related rulings) could restrict some AI features and revenue in an important market — a meaningful geopolitical/legal risk to monitor. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.23.

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.