Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,571 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,298 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.6% of Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the second quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.2% during the third quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $101,301,000 after buying an additional 8,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of 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 worth $363,256,000 after buying an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $276.47 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.70.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $278.12 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $268.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.18. 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 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple News Roundup

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 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.