Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Cut by Connors Investor Services Inc.

Connors Investor Services Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 169,360 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,776 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.7% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $43,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 40,543 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $248.96 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $261.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.86. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: China iPhone demand is accelerating — iPhone sales in the first nine weeks of 2026 jumped ~23%, outpacing a weak overall market and supporting revenue growth and regional resilience. Apple’s China smartphone sales jump 23% to start 2026, bucking industry trend
• Positive Sentiment: Legal win for Apple Watch — a U.S. trade‑tribunal judge preliminarily ruled Apple’s redesigned watches do not infringe Masimo patents, blocking a fresh import ban and removing a regulatory/legal overhang on watch sales. Apple fends off bid for new Apple Watch import ban at US trade tribunal
• Positive Sentiment: AI & services monetization helping the top line — reports estimate Apple earned roughly $900M from AI-related activity last year with App Store fees a growing recurring revenue stream projected to approach $1B. This underpins the services/AI revenue narrative even as hardware competition intensifies. Apple Made $900M From AI Last Year While Rivals Burned Through Cash
• Positive Sentiment: Product & ecosystem updates — Apple refreshed AirPods Max and closed a MotionVFX deal to deepen creator tools and services, supporting wearables and services revenue opportunities. The Morning After: Apple’s surprise AirPods Max refresh – Engadget Apple’s MotionVFX Deal Deepens Creator Studio And Services Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: App Store fee cut in China — Apple trimmed its mainland China App Store commission to 25%, a regulatory concession that helps local relations and may boost app ecosystem activity but could modestly reduce services take‑rate. Apple (AAPL) Stock Rises as Tim Cook Tours China Amid App Store Fee Reduction to 25%
• Neutral Sentiment: Tim Cook’s China visit raises confidence in market strategy — management’s high‑visibility trip and messaging reduce geopolitical uncertainty in a key market but don’t immediately change fundamentals. Apple Stock (AAPL) Opinions on Tim Cook’s China Visit
• Negative Sentiment: Security alert — Apple urged users to update iOS after discovery of new spyware able to take over older iPhones; heightened security risk can hurt user trust and raise support/cost issues. Apple issues iPhone spyware alert to users
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling & capex signal concerns — disclosures show sustained insider sales and reports note Apple is the only “Mag 7” firm with declining capex, which some investors view as underinvestment for long‑term AI and hardware initiatives. Apple Stock (AAPL) Opinions on Tim Cook’s China Visit (insider data) Fun Fact: Apple (AAPL) Is the Only Mag 7 Company Whose Capex Is Declining
• Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain shift risk — TSMC reporting Nvidia as its largest customer highlights industry re‑ranking in AI compute demand; TSMC’s shift toward Nvidia could signal lower relative wafer demand from Apple over time. TSMC: Nvidia Overtakes Apple as Top Customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data shows anomalies — filings today show effectively zero reported short interest (likely a data error), so no clear short‑pressure signal from short positions. Market data (short interest summary)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target for the company 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.