J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Boosts Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 549,519 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,635 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.3% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Apple were worth $139,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $290,506,933,000 after acquiring an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $274.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. 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’s 50-day moving average is $264.84 and its 200 day moving average is $258.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple will move part of Mac Mini production to a Foxconn facility in Houston and expand U.S. AI-server assembly — a visible step in its $600B domestic-manufacturing push that should shore up supply-chain resilience, reduce geopolitical concentration risk, and support long-term margin and revenue stability. Apple Plans to Manufacture Mac Mini in Houston
• Positive Sentiment: Reporting shows Apple investing to rebuild parts of the U.S. chip supply chain — a strategic move that could reduce supplier concentration in Asia and support device and AI-server roadmaps over time. Inside Apple’s Push to Build an All-American Chip
• Neutral Sentiment: MoffettNathanson raised Apple’s price target to $270 but kept a “neutral” rating — a modest endorsement that suggests limited near-term upside from their view. Moffett Nathanson Price Target Change
• Neutral Sentiment: Proxy and governance: shareholders re‑elected Apple’s board and approved 2026 proposals at the annual meeting — removes a near‑term governance overhang but contains no new strategic shift. Apple Shareholders Reelect Board
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto/derivatives venues rolled out tokenized perpetuals that reference Apple shares — increases round‑the‑clock speculative access but doesn’t change fundamentals. Kraken Debuts Tokenized Stock Perpetual Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Spain’s competition regulator said Apple (and Amazon) were slow to remove contract clauses deemed anti‑competitive — a fresh regulatory headache in Europe that could lead to fines, remedies or margin pressure in the region. Spain Antitrust Ruling on Apple and Amazon
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. authorities ordered Apple to create an access mechanism to encrypted data; U.S. lawmakers requested briefings — ongoing legal/regulatory friction around privacy and law‑enforcement access raises compliance and reputational risks. US Lawmakers Want UK Briefing on Backdoor Order to Apple
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile investors and hedge funds have trimmed or sold Apple stakes (reported sales by marquee names), which can weigh on sentiment and add selling pressure even if company fundamentals remain solid. Major Investors Trim Apple Stakes

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. KGI Securities raised shares of Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.41.

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.