Alley Investment Management Company LLC Cuts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Alley Investment Management Company LLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 124,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,258 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.7% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in 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 period. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its position 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. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (down previously from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.70.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $269.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.84. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.15%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst support — Wall Street analysts are reiterating buys and raising price targets after Apple’s strong quarter and iPhone 17 demand, which underpins revenue and margin upside. Apple Inc.: Reaffirmed Buy on Strengthening Services Ecosystem and Broad-Based App Store Recovery
• Positive Sentiment: AI/tooling integration that can boost developer ecosystem — Apple added agentic coding support (Anthropic’s Claude Agent and OpenAI’s Codex) to Xcode, which could accelerate app development and stickiness in the App Store over time. Apple adds agents from Anthropic and OpenAI to its coding tool
• Positive Sentiment: Sentiment drivers and media endorsements — high-profile bullish commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) and inflows into innovation ETFs that include Apple support near‑term momentum and investor confidence. Jim Cramer Says “I Think Apple’s Quarter Was Fantastic and Its Future Remains Bright”
• Neutral Sentiment: Content/brand initiatives — Apple TV+ will debut Mattel’s “Matchbox The Movie” in October; small for near‑term revenues but supports services/brand extension. Apple TV sets October launch for Mattel’s ‘Matchbox’ car movie
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter and unusual data points — several feeds report odd/zero short‑interest figures for February (likely data noise) and high search/activity around AAPL; useful for gauging retail attention but not a direct fundamental catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: AI talent drain — reports Apple has lost several AI researchers to Meta and Google, which raises execution risk for long‑term AI initiatives versus better-funded rivals. Apple Loses More AI Researchers to Meta and Google
• Negative Sentiment: Supply competition from AI chip demand — TSMC capacity is being stretched by Nvidia’s AI ramp, which could pressure Apple’s manufacturing cadence or component availability if capacity constraints persist. Nvidia’s AI Takeover Leaves Apple Fighting for Supply

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.