Narwhal Capital Management Cuts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Narwhal Capital Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 272,566 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,402 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.1% of Narwhal Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $69,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.23.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarter driven by iPhone 17 and China — Apple beat revenue and EPS expectations, reported record iPhone sales and gave strong March-quarter revenue/margin guidance, supporting bullish near-term fundamentals. Apple sales, profit beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target increases — Several firms raised targets and reiterated buy ratings after the beat (including TD Cowen, JPMorgan, Monness Crespi & Hardt), which supports upside sentiment among institutional investors. Analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: AI strategy remains ambiguous — Apple announced partnerships (e.g., Google Gemini) and made AI-related M&A (Q.ai), but offered limited execution details; these moves signal intent but leave monetization and competitive positioning unclear. AI details unclear
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential supply-chain diversification — Reports that Apple is exploring U.S. foundry partners (e.g., Intel) could ease long-term sourcing risk but are early-stage and not an immediate fix for 2026 capacity issues. Intel foundry reports
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs and shortages — Apple warned memory prices are beginning to bite; suppliers like Samsung and SK Hynix are prioritizing AI chips, tightening supply and pressuring gross margins if costs stay elevated. Memory cost warning
• Negative Sentiment: iPhone production constraints — Multiple reports say TSMC/other chip shortages are limiting Apple’s ability to meet iPhone demand, forcing Apple to prioritize premium models and potentially capping unit growth despite strong demand. TSMC supply short
• Negative Sentiment: Talent and execution questions in AI — Reports of AI researcher departures and commentary that the Google partnership could limit Apple’s AI upside have soured investor enthusiasm for Apple’s AI prospects. AI researcher departures

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $259.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 171.22%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

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.