Congress Asset Management Co. Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,643,557 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 229,069 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.1% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $446,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.7% during the third quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,537 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Avant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the third quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush says 2026 could be a significant product year and raises upside potential (they reiterate Outperform and a $350 target), framing WWDC and AI-driven hardware as major catalysts. Apple in focus as Wedbush calls 2026 a ‘significant’ product launch year ahead of WWDC
• Positive Sentiment: Apple hired ex-Google executive Lilian Rincon as VP of product marketing for AI — a concrete senior hire to accelerate Siri/AI positioning and marketing. Apple hires ex-Google executive to head AI marketing amid push to improve Siri
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple will open Siri to rival AI assistants (Gemini, Claude, etc.) in iOS 27 — this pivot can broaden iPhone AI capabilities without Apple building everything in‑house. Apple Plans to Open Up Siri to Rival AI Assistants in iOS 27 Update
• Positive Sentiment: Services continue to grow (reported ~14% y/y, Apple TV and gaming aiding strength) — recurring high‑margin revenue supports earnings upside even if hardware cycles lag. Strong Streaming & Game Content Aids Apple’s Services: What’s Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple expands U.S. manufacturing program, adding Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity and committing $400M — reduces supply‑chain risk and supports domestic sourcing narrative. Apple adds Bosch, Cirrus Logic, others to US manufacturing program, to invest $400 million
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is granting rare large stock bonuses to iPhone designers to curb talent departures to AI firms — a retention step to protect future product execution. Apple Drops Six Figure Bonuses To Stop iPhone Talent Exodus
• Neutral Sentiment: An analyst tweak: Erste trimmed FY2027 EPS slightly — minimal change to consensus, but worth watching for estimate revisions. Apple Inc. analyst note (Erste Group) via MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: Steve Wozniak publicly criticizes AI and says he hardly uses it — a reputational/PR datapoint but unlikely to move fundamentals. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak admits he’s ‘disappointed a lot’ by AI and hardly uses it
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech sector weakness — Nasdaq slide, Meta legal losses and geopolitical worries are pressuring tech stocks, which is dragging AAPL despite company‑specific positives. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year, driven down by war worries, Meta legal woes
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple has discontinued the Mac Pro and abandoned future updates could concern pro users and niche revenue, though impact on total revenue is limited. Apple reportedly discontinues Mac Pro, abandons plans for future updates

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Scotiabank set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.58.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $248.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $260.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.92. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.15%.

Apple Company 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.