Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,941 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,345 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 3.1% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Columbus Macro LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.9% during the third quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 34,456 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 28,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,346,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 12,465 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,174,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,250 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 352,083 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $89,651,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $283.36 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.92.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan will replace Goldman Sachs as the issuer of the Apple Card — a strategic shift that should steady the card program, reduce Apple’s partner execution risk and align the product with a larger credit-card platform (transition may take up to 24 months). JPMorgan Chase becomes the new issuer of the Apple Card
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is expanding its financial-services ecosystem with JPMorgan, which supports Apple’s Services strategy (recurring revenue and deeper device engagement) and could modestly boost Services growth over time. Apple Taps JPMorgan Chase to Expand Its Financial Services Ecosystem
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst commentary and investor pieces highlight Apple’s Services, cash flow and “Apple Intelligence” roadmap as catalysts for upgrades and device refresh cycles ahead. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case despite near-term volatility. Apple Keeps Winning With Services, Cash, And Customer Loyalty
• Neutral Sentiment: Leadership chatter: reports name engineering chief John Ternus as a frontrunner to succeed Tim Cook — a governance story that could influence investor confidence but is not an immediate operational catalyst. Apple’s John Ternus Could Be Tim Cook’s Successor as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: CES coverage shows PC makers (Dell, HP, Lenovo) pushing new laptop innovations — not directly impacting Apple’s Mac demand yet, but worth monitoring for competitive product trends. All the laptops that caught our eye at CES 2026 – Engadget
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet briefly surpassed Apple in market capitalization as investors reward AI exposure (Gemini/AI strength). That rotation into AI leaders is putting near-term pressure on Apple stock and investor positioning. Alphabet’s market cap surpasses Apple’s for first time since 2019
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish takes and valuation concerns (articles urging caution or sell calls) are circulating — these reinforce sensitivity to near-term multiple compression if growth or AI positioning disappoints. Apple: Time To Get Out

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $259.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $273.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $246.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.