Junto Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 187,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $47,716,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 110.9% during 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 during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 298,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 40,543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $252.82 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $261.79 and its 200 day moving average is $261.88. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. CLSA upped their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. KGI Securities raised shares of Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.58.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple acquired MotionVFX, a maker of Final Cut Pro plugins and motion-graphics tools — a strategic tuck-in to bolster Final Cut Pro/creator ecosystem and subscription stickiness. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple unveiled the second-generation AirPods Max (H2 chip, improved ANC, Live Translation) at $549 — a premium product refresh that supports accessory revenue and services integration. Preorders and ASPs could help near-term revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports suggest Apple is using aggressive pricing on some new hardware (e.g., $599 MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e) to gain share — this could pressure rivals while expanding ecosystem reach and driving volume. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst note: Robert W. Baird reiterated a bullish stance, highlighting Apple’s durable ecosystem and services growth — supportive for long-term earnings but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons to Amazon and broader AI/tech narratives are circulating — useful context for relative valuation debates but not a direct Apple-specific driver. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Nvidia’s GTC and chip/AI momentum continue to dominate headlines; indirect implications for Apple include component demand and competitive AI feature expectations. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is sliding relative to peers in March and is down from recent highs — momentum and sector rotation (Nvidia leadership) are weighing on sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Apple postponed its smart home display release — a product delay that could defer revenue and push back ecosystem expansion timelines. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data reported today appears anomalous/garbled (zeros/NaN); read-through on investor positioning is unclear — treat short-interest headline with caution.

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.