Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 141,257 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,686,669 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 141,257 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.9% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Apple were worth $730,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Overbrook Management Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,174 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,301,000 after acquiring an additional 8,446 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Apple by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $363,256,000 after purchasing an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tufton Capital Management boosted its stake in Apple by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,496,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Top investor endorsement — Billionaire Ken Griffin lists Apple among his five best stock picks, highlighting institutional conviction and potential buying support. 5 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Ken Griffin
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing — Bank of America reiterates a Buy and cites accelerating services growth and on‑device AI upside, supporting a premium valuation thesis and positive analyst flow. Apple: Accelerating Services Growth and On‑Device AI Upside Support Premium Valuation and Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. manufacturing boost — Apple expands its U.S. manufacturing program with a reported $400M investment, a politically favorable move that can reduce supply risk and support margin/PR. Apple Inc. (AAPL) expands US manufacturing program with $400M investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive narrative around Apple at 50 — Extensive coverage of Apple’s 50th anniversary reminds investors of the company’s long-term durability, but raises governance/succession questions that are medium‑term rather than catalytic. Apple At 50 Weighs AI Partnerships Satellite Ties And Succession
• Neutral Sentiment: AI positioning debate — Coverage highlights a strategic pivot toward opening Siri to third‑party AI assistants and other AI moves; this reduces long-term AI execution risk but timing and monetization remain uncertain. Apple’s AI Strategy Is Pivoting. Here’s Why That Could Be Great News for the Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Satellite dependency risk — Reports that Amazon is in talks to buy Globalstar (Apple’s satellite partner for Emergency SOS/messaging) raise competitive and supply‑chain uncertainty for Apple’s satellite features. Amazon Lines Up Deal to Rival SpaceX’s Starlink: Report. Why Apple Could Be a Problem.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation pressure — Commentary points to a rich trailing and forward P/E (high 20s–30s) that’s prompting profit‑taking and making AAPL sensitive to any slowdown in growth or disappointment on AI execution. Is Apple Stock Overvalued Or Undervalued?
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical / macro risk — Headlines about potential targeting of U.S. tech firms and broader Mag‑7 weakness amplify downside risk if tensions or macro selloffs persist. AAPL Stock on Watch: Iran Threatens Retaliatory Strikes Could Hit Apple Next

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.58.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.92 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.38. 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 $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.15%.

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.