GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 78.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,564 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,405 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.1% of GKV Capital Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after buying an additional 57,898,088 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $255.78 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $266.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.14. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.13.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone momentum and quarter results — iPhone 17 sales and overall revenue remained robust, supporting fundamentals and cushioning the pullback. Zacks: Strong iPhone Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Legal victory removes a potential multi‑hundred‑million dollar liability — a U.S. jury rejected Optis Wireless’ 4G patent claims, reducing near-term litigation risk. Benzinga: Optis Verdict
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target, reflecting confidence in Apple’s growth trajectory and giving investors a bullish reference point. Bernstein PT Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Content and services moves — Apple acquired full rights to the hit show “Severance” and added YouTube to Vision Pro, which are strategically positive for services but unlikely to move near‑term earnings materially. TechCrunch: Severance Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Major shareholder cash flow note — Berkshire Hathaway received a large Apple dividend, underscoring Apple’s cash returns but also spotlighting Berkshire’s large position dynamics. Finbold: Berkshire Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Siri AI upgrade delays and testing problems — reports that the Siri overhaul is running into accuracy and speed problems forced Apple to push features back, directly hitting the AI narrative investors were pricing in. CNBC: Siri Delay / Market Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk from FTC letter over Apple News — the FTC chair urged review of Apple News curation amid accusations of political bias, adding regulatory/legal uncertainty and headline risk. NYT: FTC Letter
• Negative Sentiment: Fund flow and institutional trimming amid sector pressure — several funds reduced Apple exposure and broader “Magnificent Seven” weakness amplified the selloff, raising short‑term downside pressure. Barron’s: Institutional Moves

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.