Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 231,949 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,389 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.4% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Apple were worth $59,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 41.0% in the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. KGI Securities raised shares of Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.13.

Apple Stock Down 2.3%

Apple stock opened at $255.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is rolling out an integrated video-podcast experience (audio ↔ video switching) and lining up distribution partners (Acast), expanding services revenue and competing with YouTube/Spotify — a clear product/service catalyst. Apple takes on YouTube and Spotify with a new video podcast push
• Positive Sentiment: Apple has invited media to a March 4 product launch, giving investors a near-term event (new devices) that could drive upgrades and sentiment if hardware surprises meet expectations. Apple Preps for March 4 Product Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Soros Fund Management and Adventist Health System Sunbelt reportedly increased Apple stakes, signaling confidence from some large investors. Soros Fund Management boosts Apple stake with 66,503 shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple shares are trading below average analyst price targets after a recent pullback — this highlights potential upside if fundamentals hold, but also shows a gap between analysts and market pricing. Apple (AAPL) Trading 10% Below Analyst Targets After This Week’s 8% Drop
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data reported for mid-February appears anomalous/zeroed out — not a clear signal of growing bearish positioning based on the available report. (Data note; interpret cautiously.)
• Negative Sentiment: Market concern about Apple’s Siri/AI timeline intensified after reports described a delayed Siri AI upgrade as a “shocker,” raising fears about Apple falling behind rivals in generative-AI voice assistants — a driver of today’s negative sentiment. Apple’s Siri shocker is flashing a warning AAPL bulls can’t ignore
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and media commentary framed the recent pullback as a “falling knife” after the Siri delay, amplifying short-term selling pressure and cautious positioning among traders. Apple Stock Forecast — Should You Catch this Falling Knife?
• Negative Sentiment: Portfolio moves and hedge-fund activity: Maverick Capital trimmed Apple, and reports of high-profile insider/office sales (e.g., Pelosi trades reported by media) are adding to near-term selling narrative. Maverick Capital Cuts Apple Position as Lee Ainslie Trims

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.