CWA Asset Management Group LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 557,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,635 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.5% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $151,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Apple by 98,917.0% during the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is pushing into new ad and services revenue channels — launching the Apple Business platform (Apr. 14) and rolling out paid ads in Apple Maps (U.S./Canada this summer), which could lift Services revenue and diversify monetization. Apple to bring paid ads to maps to US, Canada this summer
• Positive Sentiment: AI and assistant upgrades remain a strategic focus — reports say Apple is testing a standalone Siri app and an “Ask Siri” AI agent, and AirPods Max 2 includes Apple Intelligence features. These moves bolster Apple’s AI narrative and ecosystem stickiness ahead of WWDC. Apple Readies Introduction of AI Agent-Like Siri
• Positive Sentiment: Major broker/analyst attention and investor interest are rising — Morgan Stanley issued an Overweight and Apple recently became the most-searched stock on Zacks, signalling renewed institutional and retail focus. Apple Surpasses Nvidia as the Most Popular Stock on Zacks.com: Time to Buy AAPL? Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Overweight Rating from Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Software updates and minor product launches (iOS 26.4, AI playlists, other UI tweaks) maintain ecosystem engagement but are unlikely to move revenue materially in the near term. Apple launches iOS 26.4 with AI playlists, purchase sharing, and more – The Verge
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-party and developer activity on the App Store continues (e.g., TAP Invest added to App Store), which underscores platform health but is not a company-specific catalyst. TAP, Inc. Launches TAP Invest Mobile App on the Apple App Store
• Neutral Sentiment: WWDC scheduled for June 8 is a near-term event that typically provides software/AI roadmaps — a potential catalyst but not a guaranteed positive. Apple to host June developer conference online with AI updates
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory-driven changes in the U.K. (age verification for many Apple services) have introduced near-term volatility and could add friction to service usage/revenue in that market. Markets showed a volatile reaction premarket to the rollout. Apple rolls out UK age checks for iPhone users Apple stock volatile premarket after rolling out UK age verification
• Negative Sentiment: China data shows shipments of foreign-branded phones (including iPhones) fell ~7.7% year-over-year in February — a reminder of near-term demand softness in Apple’s second-largest market. February shipments of foreign-branded phones in China fall 7.7% from a year ago, CAICT data shows

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.58.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.62 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $260.48 and its 200-day moving average is $262.46. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.26 dividend. 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%.

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.