Donoghue Forlines LLC Invests $2.44 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,575 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,000. Apple comprises 0.7% of Donoghue Forlines LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.2% during the second quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the second quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $101,301,000 after purchasing an additional 8,446 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Apple by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,256,000 after buying an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus set a $325.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.13.

Apple Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $255.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $266.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.Apple’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 business posted $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 (DPR) is 13.15%.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone momentum and quarter results — iPhone 17 sales and overall revenue remained robust, supporting fundamentals and cushioning the pullback. Zacks: Strong iPhone Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Legal victory removes a potential multi‑hundred‑million dollar liability — a U.S. jury rejected Optis Wireless’ 4G patent claims, reducing near-term litigation risk. Benzinga: Optis Verdict
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target, reflecting confidence in Apple’s growth trajectory and giving investors a bullish reference point. Bernstein PT Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Content and services moves — Apple acquired full rights to the hit show “Severance” and added YouTube to Vision Pro, which are strategically positive for services but unlikely to move near‑term earnings materially. TechCrunch: Severance Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Major shareholder cash flow note — Berkshire Hathaway received a large Apple dividend, underscoring Apple’s cash returns but also spotlighting Berkshire’s large position dynamics. Finbold: Berkshire Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Siri AI upgrade delays and testing problems — reports that the Siri overhaul is running into accuracy and speed problems forced Apple to push features back, directly hitting the AI narrative investors were pricing in. CNBC: Siri Delay / Market Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk from FTC letter over Apple News — the FTC chair urged review of Apple News curation amid accusations of political bias, adding regulatory/legal uncertainty and headline risk. NYT: FTC Letter
• Negative Sentiment: Fund flow and institutional trimming amid sector pressure — several funds reduced Apple exposure and broader “Magnificent Seven” weakness amplified the selloff, raising short‑term downside pressure. Barron’s: Institutional Moves

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.