Root Financial Partners LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,252 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,288 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.8% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $239.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Stephens set a $315.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, January 26th. 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 issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.13.

Apple Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $255.78 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $266.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.14. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap 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.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.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 prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

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.