Kera Capital Partners Inc. Purchases 2,048 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 41.0% during the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.70.

Apple Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $278.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $268.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.62. The company has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 2.47 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

Key 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.

About Apple

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.