Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Fayez Sarofim & Co

Fayez Sarofim & Co lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,366,927 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 368,884 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 9.1% of Fayez Sarofim & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,929,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,106,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.82 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $261.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. 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. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.58.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple acquired MotionVFX, a maker of Final Cut Pro plugins and motion-graphics tools — a strategic tuck-in to bolster Final Cut Pro/creator ecosystem and subscription stickiness. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple unveiled the second-generation AirPods Max (H2 chip, improved ANC, Live Translation) at $549 — a premium product refresh that supports accessory revenue and services integration. Preorders and ASPs could help near-term revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports suggest Apple is using aggressive pricing on some new hardware (e.g., $599 MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e) to gain share — this could pressure rivals while expanding ecosystem reach and driving volume. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst note: Robert W. Baird reiterated a bullish stance, highlighting Apple’s durable ecosystem and services growth — supportive for long-term earnings but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons to Amazon and broader AI/tech narratives are circulating — useful context for relative valuation debates but not a direct Apple-specific driver. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Nvidia’s GTC and chip/AI momentum continue to dominate headlines; indirect implications for Apple include component demand and competitive AI feature expectations. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is sliding relative to peers in March and is down from recent highs — momentum and sector rotation (Nvidia leadership) are weighing on sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple postponed its smart home display release — a product delay that could defer revenue and push back ecosystem expansion timelines. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data reported today appears anomalous/garbled (zeros/NaN); read-through on investor positioning is unclear — treat short-interest headline with caution.

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.