199,830 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Acquired by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 199,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $50,883,000. Apple makes up 2.4% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.2% during the third quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $101,301,000 after buying an additional 8,446 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Apple by 48.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $363,256,000 after buying an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Moffett Nathanson lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.58.

Apple Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $249.94 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $261.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook’s trip to China and Apple cutting App Store commission in mainland China to 25% reduces regulatory friction and should help restore relations with large developers/partners in the world’s biggest iPhone market; that eases geopolitical/regulatory risk even if it modestly trims revenue per transaction. Apple (AAPL) Stock Rises as Tim Cook Tours China Amid App Store Fee Reduction to 25%
• Positive Sentiment: New product refreshes — AirPods Max 2 and a refreshed MacBook lineup with M5 chips — support near-term revenue and margin upside in wearables and Macs; Evercore reaffirming Outperform on Mac refreshes adds bullish analyst support. Apple Expands Wearables Portfolio With New AirPods Max Apple Launches New MacBook Lineup with M5 Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic M&A and partnerships — MotionVFX acquisition to deepen Final Cut Pro/creator offerings and a first-ever Beats × Nike hardware tie-up — help Services and accessory ecosystems, supporting higher‑margin, recurring revenue paths. Apple’s MotionVFX Deal Deepens Creator Studio And Services Ecosystem Nike partners with Apple’s Beats
• Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain signals: stronger demand at suppliers for AI/data-center components (e.g., Jabil’s better results) imply healthier component flows for Apple’s future device/AI plans. That supports execution and product cadence. Jabil Quietly Manufactures an Accelerating Stock Price Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and fair‑value chatter: some outlets nudge fair value targets modestly higher on AI and new products but stress rising component costs and uneven regional demand — mixed inputs that leave consensus estimates largely intact for now. How The Apple (AAPL) Investment Narrative Is Shifting
• Neutral Sentiment: Data point on short interest appears to be a reporting anomaly (zero/NaN entries) and offers no clear signal about bearish positioning; treat with caution until clean data is available.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of talent departures and internal leadership scrutiny raise execution concerns for AI and product initiatives; investor worry about management continuity has increased speculation (some prediction‑market headlines). Apple’s talent exodus concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Analyses that flag the Magnificent Seven’s stretched valuations and moderating growth reduce the sector’s multiple support — a sector‑level headwind for AAPL despite company fundamentals. Mag 7 Or ‘Lag 7?’ A Quant Review
• Negative Sentiment: Product risk headlines — e.g., critical iPhone 18 coverage and public criticism about long app‑review times — can weigh on near‑term sentiment and developer relations. Apple just got a brutal iPhone 18 warning Elon Musk Has One Word for This Apple Problem

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.