Sunbelt Securities Inc. Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,515 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.2% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $290,506,933,000 after acquiring an additional 15,141,995 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.58.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: China demand surprise — Apple’s smartphone sales in China jumped ~23% in the first nine weeks of 2026, bucking a weak Android market and suggesting better-than-expected iPhone volume and regional revenue upside. Apple’s China smartphone sales jump 23% to start 2026, bucking industry trend
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization progressing — Reporting indicates Apple’s AI-related revenue could top $1 billion this year, which helps justify continued R&D and eases investor concerns that Apple is falling too far behind larger AI spenders. Apple Is Way Behind in AI—and Still Making a Fortune From It
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership/stability signals — CEO Tim Cook’s high-profile China trip and public dismissal of retirement chatter reduce near-term governance uncertainty and support continuity for strategy execution. Apple CEO Visits China amid Clampdown on App Store Charges
• Neutral Sentiment: App Store fee cut in China — Apple cut in‑app fees to 25% in mainland China after regulatory talks; this mends local relationships and may help ecosystem engagement but compresses per-transaction take rates for Services in that market. Apple fee cut to boost Tencent, NetEase margins in China, analysts say
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refreshes — Apple announced AirPods Max 2 and a refreshed MacBook line (M5 chips). These are incremental revenue drivers but unlikely to shift the near-term revenue trajectory materially. Apple Just Announced the AirPods Max 2. Can That Move the Needle for AAPL Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Services/creator push — Apple acquired MotionVFX to expand its creator tools and Services bundle, supporting higher-margin recurring revenue over time but with limited immediate profit impact. Apple’s MotionVFX Deal Deepens Creator Studio And Services Ecosystem
• Negative Sentiment: Product concern: iPhone 18 warning — Media pieces flag a notable warning for the upcoming iPhone 18 cycle, which could pressure expectations for unit growth/pricing if confirmed. Market reaction to such headlines can pressure the stock. Apple just got a brutal iPhone 18 warning
• Negative Sentiment: Talent and organizational concerns — Coverage and shorts/coverage of departures and internal churn have raised investor worries about execution risk on AI and product roadmaps. Apple’s talent exodus concerns: Here’s what to know
• Negative Sentiment: Market rotation/defensive positioning — Analysts and quant screens note a pullback in high‑momentum large caps and a shift toward defensive stocks, which is pressuring Apple alongside sector-wide re‑pricing. Apple Stock Price Slips At $252 As Tech Investors Pivot To Defensive Positioning

Apple Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of AAPL opened at $249.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. 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 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 dividend 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.