Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Raised by Hartford Financial Management Inc.

Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,601 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.3% of Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $290,506,933,000 after acquiring an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 Price Performance

AAPL opened at $278.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $268.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.90. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.70.

Apple Company 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.