BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. Buys 3,053 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,964 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,053 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.5% of BCS Private Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. BCS Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.2% in the second quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,446 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Apple by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,256,000 after purchasing an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group set a $276.47 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. 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. Finally, CLSA raised their price objective 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. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.70.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

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 Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.12 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $268.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.