Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lowered by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,992,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 34,085 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.1% of Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,525,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $290,506,933,000 after buying an additional 15,141,995 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MacBook Neo launch — Apple unveiled the $599 MacBook Neo aimed at education and budget buyers; reviewers (including MKBHD) praise it as highly disruptive, which could expand unit volumes and market share. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect meaningful initial units — Some research notes forecast 4–5 million MacBook Neo shipments this year, suggesting upside to Mac revenue if adoption meets expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: India manufacturing incentives — New Indian incentives to boost local phone production support Apple’s ongoing shift of iPhone assembly to India, reducing China concentration risk and potentially lowering tariff exposure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Buyback and cash flow support — Coverage highlights a large share‑repurchase (reported $24B) and strong free cash flow that help support the stock through market volatility, but these are longer‑term cushions rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears noisy — Reports show a large “increase” in short interest but the underlying data is zero/NaN, indicating a likely reporting glitch rather than a substantive change in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: China shipment weakness — UBS reiterated a Hold citing sharp declines in iPhone shipments in China, a direct hit to growth expectations for Apple’s largest hardware category. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Supplier cost pressure — Samsung Display’s CEO warned that higher oil and chip prices (and related supply‑cost inflation) could increase component costs for phones and laptops, pressuring margins industrywide. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and “no catalyst” views — Coverage notes AAPL trades at a premium P/E versus peers and some analysts say there’s no near‑term catalyst to justify further multiple expansion, leaving the stock vulnerable to broader market weakness. Article Title

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $255.76 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $262.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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 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 is presently 13.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Maxim Group raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens set a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.58.

Apple Company 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.