Professional Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Professional Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,769 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.4% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in 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 last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchased a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.13.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $255.78 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $288.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $266.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

More Apple News

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

About Apple

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.