Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,081,376 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 22,696 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.9% of Eastern Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $275,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. O Dell Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. O Dell Group LLC now owns 91,893 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,399,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 25,662 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,534,000 after acquiring an additional 9,089 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 26,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,857,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc. now owns 7,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 17,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple preparing to allow third‑party voice AI/chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) in CarPlay — a strategic shift that could boost in‑car services, user engagement and partnerships across the AI ecosystem. Apple plans to allow external voice-controlled AI chatbots in CarPlay
• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q1 results (higher‑than‑expected revenue and EPS, large iPhone sales) continue to support investor confidence and explain why AAPL is outperforming many Big Tech peers after the AI‑led sell‑off.
• Positive Sentiment: EU says Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act — avoids potential regulatory constraints and commercial disruption in Europe. Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated under Digital Markets Act, says EU
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and bullish price targets remain — several firms have reiterated Outperform/Overweight calls and above‑consensus targets (median recent target ~$310), underpinning investor interest. Evercore ISI stays Outperform on Apple
• Positive Sentiment: Inclusion in new Big Tech ETF offerings and continued institutional buying signal durable demand from funds and passive vehicles. Big Tech Core: New Burney ETF Packs Apple, Nvidia, Google, Broadcom Punch
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data currently shows anomalies (reporting zeros/NaN) and offers no clear signal on bearish positioning — not market‑moving as reported.
• Neutral Sentiment: Global memory‑chip shortages raise questions about iPhone pricing vs. margin trade‑offs; could preserve margins (price increases) or dent volume if Apple raises prices — impact unclear near term. Pricier iPhones? Global memory chip crunch puts spotlight on Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Apple has scaled back its AI health‑coach initiative (project “Mulberry”), highlighting execution and monetization challenges for new paid services tied to health/wearables. That could temper parts‑of‑services growth expectations. Apple Scales Back AI Health Coach Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing insider selling is visible in regulatory filings; while routine at large cap firms, it can be interpreted negatively by some investors when concentrated.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $278.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $253.62. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 13.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. CLSA lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $276.47 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.70.

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.