Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Raised by Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 230,010 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,134 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.5% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $58,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $290,506,933,000 after acquiring an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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

Apple stock opened at $255.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $262.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.14. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 13.15%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MacBook Neo launch — Apple unveiled the $599 MacBook Neo aimed at education and budget buyers; reviewers (including MKBHD) praise it as highly disruptive, which could expand unit volumes and market share. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect meaningful initial units — Some research notes forecast 4–5 million MacBook Neo shipments this year, suggesting upside to Mac revenue if adoption meets expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: India manufacturing incentives — New Indian incentives to boost local phone production support Apple’s ongoing shift of iPhone assembly to India, reducing China concentration risk and potentially lowering tariff exposure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Buyback and cash flow support — Coverage highlights a large share‑repurchase (reported $24B) and strong free cash flow that help support the stock through market volatility, but these are longer‑term cushions rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears noisy — Reports show a large “increase” in short interest but the underlying data is zero/NaN, indicating a likely reporting glitch rather than a substantive change in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: China shipment weakness — UBS reiterated a Hold citing sharp declines in iPhone shipments in China, a direct hit to growth expectations for Apple’s largest hardware category. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Supplier cost pressure — Samsung Display’s CEO warned that higher oil and chip prices (and related supply‑cost inflation) could increase component costs for phones and laptops, pressuring margins industrywide. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and “no catalyst” views — Coverage notes AAPL trades at a premium P/E versus peers and some analysts say there’s no near‑term catalyst to justify further multiple expansion, leaving the stock vulnerable to broader market weakness. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.58.

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.