Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 2,512 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 77,037 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,512 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.7% of Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $127,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.23.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and reports say Apple’s foldable iPhone remains on track for a fall launch, calming earlier delay fears and removing a key short‑term overhang on the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for Macs — especially higher‑end models — is driving longer lead times, a signal of healthy hardware demand that supports revenue and margins. That dynamic likely helped shares today. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is participating in advanced AI/cybersecurity testing (Anthropic’s initiatives/Project Glasswing), reinforcing its positioning in enterprise/security AI without committing to costly frontier model buildouts. That reduces structural AI risk and is viewed favorably by investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile endorsements and comments — including Warren Buffett noting he’d like to buy more Apple stock (though “not in this market”) — support sentiment that AAPL remains a core mega‑cap holding. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI’s shutdown of its Sora app highlights challenges for AI‑first consumer products; indirect to Apple, but it clarifies where AI economics favor integration over standalone, which aligns with Apple’s measured AI approach. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Isolated consumer anecdotes (e.g., a fraud case where stolen funds were spent on Apple products) are headline‑grabbing but have negligible corporate or financial impact. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier reports of engineering snags on the foldable iPhone and signs of an App Store slowdown pressured the stock this week and remain risk factors that can trigger volatility if updated negatively. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: China legal/patent developments (a Xiao‑I victory and related rulings) could restrict some AI features and revenue in an important market — a meaningful geopolitical/legal risk to monitor. Read More.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $258.90 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.73. 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 market cap of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $171.89 and a 12 month high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.15%.

Apple 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.