Korea Investment CORP Purchases 109,283 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,255,291 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,283 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.9% of Korea Investment CORP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of Apple worth $2,865,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its position in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MacBook Neo launch — Apple unveiled the $599 MacBook Neo aimed at education and budget buyers; reviewers (including MKBHD) praise it as highly disruptive, which could expand unit volumes and market share. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect meaningful initial units — Some research notes forecast 4–5 million MacBook Neo shipments this year, suggesting upside to Mac revenue if adoption meets expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: India manufacturing incentives — New Indian incentives to boost local phone production support Apple’s ongoing shift of iPhone assembly to India, reducing China concentration risk and potentially lowering tariff exposure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Buyback and cash flow support — Coverage highlights a large share‑repurchase (reported $24B) and strong free cash flow that help support the stock through market volatility, but these are longer‑term cushions rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears noisy — Reports show a large “increase” in short interest but the underlying data is zero/NaN, indicating a likely reporting glitch rather than a substantive change in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: China shipment weakness — UBS reiterated a Hold citing sharp declines in iPhone shipments in China, a direct hit to growth expectations for Apple’s largest hardware category. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Supplier cost pressure — Samsung Display’s CEO warned that higher oil and chip prices (and related supply‑cost inflation) could increase component costs for phones and laptops, pressuring margins industrywide. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and “no catalyst” views — Coverage notes AAPL trades at a premium P/E versus peers and some analysts say there’s no near‑term catalyst to justify further multiple expansion, leaving the stock vulnerable to broader market weakness. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.58.

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $262.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.