Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 823,406 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 16,416 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.7% of Stephens Inc. AR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Apple were worth $209,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $278.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $268.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. 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 report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up previously from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple 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. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.