Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 2,147 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,525,707 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,147 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.6% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $897,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 5.1% during the third quarter. Tobias Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 23,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $284,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,031,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,790,391,000 after purchasing an additional 194,410 shares in the last quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 2.2% during the third quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 16,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,321,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, EPG Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,671 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $276.47 target price on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.41.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is in talks to launch Apple Pay in India later this year — a large addressable market that could boost Services revenue and long‑term payment volume growth. Apple talks with banks to start payment service in India, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: Apple asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class-action accusing it of overstating Siri AI progress — a legal defense that, if successful, would limit potential financial and reputational fallout. Apple seeks dismissal of fraud lawsuit over Siri AI, Epic injunction
• Positive Sentiment: Netflix will stream season eight of “Drive to Survive” on Apple TV and will broadcast the Canadian F1 Grand Prix live in the U.S. — a content partnership that supports Apple TV+ engagement and Services monetization. Netflix and Apple TV join forces on F1 content
• Positive Sentiment: Tim Cook teased multiple product launches next week (new MacBooks, iPads, iPhone 17e) — potential near-term revenue catalysts and reasons for increased investor attention. Tim Cook Teases Apple Launch On Monday: Here’s What To Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: MoffettNathanson raised Apple’s price target to $270 but kept a “neutral” rating — a modest analyst repricing that signals mixed near‑term conviction despite strong fundamentals. Finviz
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan highlights “AI companions” as a potential long-term tailwind for Apple — a bullish thematic view that supports multi‑year upside but is not an immediate earnings driver. AI Companions Could Make Apple Stock an AI Winner, Says J.P. Morgan
• Negative Sentiment: Spain’s antitrust regulator says Apple (and Amazon) were slow to comply with an order to remove anti‑competitive clauses — an active regulatory matter that could force contract or distribution changes and increase legal/compliance costs. Spain’s antitrust watchdog says Apple, Amazon took too long to refine anti-competitive contracts
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI hired a researcher who previously led Apple’s models team — a signal that AI talent is mobile and competition for top engineers remains intense, which could slow Apple’s AI roadmap execution. OpenAI hires Meta AI researcher who previously led Apple’s models team
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that several marquee investors trimmed Apple positions (Buffett, Dalio, Griffin) add psychological selling pressure and raise questions about near‑term insider/institutional conviction. Ken Griffin, Ray Dalio, and Warren Buffett All Sold More Apple Stock. Should You?

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

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.