Federated Hermes Inc. Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,525,707 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,147 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.6% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $897,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in 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 last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its stake in Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 41.0% during the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

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?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. 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. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.41.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $272.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during 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 was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio 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.