Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,776 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.7% of Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 40,543 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is nudging expectations up: UBS and other firms have raised targets and flagged the potential for a slight beat and stronger guidance into Q2, supporting near-term upside. UBS Lifts Apple Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Positive bullish notes and models (e.g., 24/7 Wall St.) argue AAPL is undervalued into the earnings print, implying material upside for patient investors if Apple reiterates growth and margin trajectory. Apple Stock Poised for 21% Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Product and services catalyst set: Apple launched a cheaper App Store subscription structure (monthly with 12‑month commitment) and is rolling out AI photo-editing tools and new MacBook Pro silicon praise — both help services revenue and device differentiation. Apple introduces a cheaper option for App Store subscriptions MacBook Pro M5 review Apple to Launch AI Photo Editing Tool
• Positive Sentiment: Supply-chain and margin edge: reports note Apple is benefiting from memory pricing and silicon allocations, which can widen iPhone margins versus rivals and support services penetration. Apple turns a memory crisis into an opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone momentum: market-share reports show Apple reached the top global smartphone spot in the March quarter — a tangible signal that device sales could drive revenue upside into the print. Apple is defying a global smartphone slump
• Neutral Sentiment: Leadership transition is now on investors’ radars: John Ternus is set to become CEO in September — a product/engineering–focused pick that reduces surprise risk long term but creates short-term execution scrutiny. John Ternus, Apple’s new CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings cadence and elevated expectations: the Magnificent Seven earnings week concentrates sentiment — Apple faces a higher bar on revenue, services growth and AI messaging; that raises volatility but not an immediate directional verdict. Big Tech faces key earnings test on AI spending and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: CFO Kevan Parekh disclosed a sale of shares (filed), which is a routine liquidity event but worth noting for timing-sensitive traders. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive threat from Qualcomm/OpenAI tie-up: reports that OpenAI is working with Qualcomm/MediaTek on AI-native phone chips triggered rotation into chipmakers and raised investor concern that Apple could lose on-device AI leadership if it doesn’t accelerate. Did Qualcomm Just Put Apple in Check? Could This New AI Smartphone Compete With Apple?
• Negative Sentiment: Perception Apple is behind on AI: multiple pieces warn that Apple needs a clear AI breakthrough; if the company fails to show credible on‑device AI progress or monetization at earnings, sentiment could flip quickly. Apple Is Falling Behind in AI

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $287.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.83.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 96,485 shares of company stock valued at $24,594,845 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $270.71 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.25 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.52 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued 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 presently 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.