Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC Acquires Shares of 1,969 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Wealth Management LLC grew 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 worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $239.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, CLSA boosted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.23.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarter driven by iPhone 17 and China — Apple beat revenue and EPS expectations, reported record iPhone sales and gave strong March-quarter revenue/margin guidance, supporting bullish near-term fundamentals. Apple sales, profit beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target increases — Several firms raised targets and reiterated buy ratings after the beat (including TD Cowen, JPMorgan, Monness Crespi & Hardt), which supports upside sentiment among institutional investors. Analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: AI strategy remains ambiguous — Apple announced partnerships (e.g., Google Gemini) and made AI-related M&A (Q.ai), but offered limited execution details; these moves signal intent but leave monetization and competitive positioning unclear. AI details unclear
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential supply-chain diversification — Reports that Apple is exploring U.S. foundry partners (e.g., Intel) could ease long-term sourcing risk but are early-stage and not an immediate fix for 2026 capacity issues. Intel foundry reports
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs and shortages — Apple warned memory prices are beginning to bite; suppliers like Samsung and SK Hynix are prioritizing AI chips, tightening supply and pressuring gross margins if costs stay elevated. Memory cost warning
• Negative Sentiment: iPhone production constraints — Multiple reports say TSMC/other chip shortages are limiting Apple’s ability to meet iPhone demand, forcing Apple to prioritize premium models and potentially capping unit growth despite strong demand. TSMC supply short
• Negative Sentiment: Talent and execution questions in AI — Reports of AI researcher departures and commentary that the Google partnership could limit Apple’s AI upside have soured investor enthusiasm for Apple’s AI prospects. AI researcher departures

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $259.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.42.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 171.22% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.