QP Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 24,237 Apple Inc. $AAPL

QP Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,237 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,589,000. Apple accounts for approximately 5.8% of QP Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Monarch Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,740,000 after buying an additional 2,920 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the third quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,301,000 after buying an additional 8,446 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Apple by 48.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $363,256,000 after acquiring an additional 465,393 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management grew its holdings in Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,496,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $251.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.45.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.58.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. trade tribunal ruled Apple’s latest Apple Watch models do not infringe Masimo’s patents, avoiding an immediate import ban and preserving a key wearables revenue stream. Apple Watch ruling
• Positive Sentiment: WWDC set for June 8–12 with teasers for “AI advancements,” raising expectations for software and services announcements that could boost monetization (Siri/AI features, developer ecosystem). WWDC date and AI tease
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple will add paid search ads to Apple Maps this summer point to an incremental services revenue stream and higher services monetization. Maps ads
• Positive Sentiment: Supply?chain checks and analyst notes (BofA) suggest Apple is preparing a 2026 foldable iPhone — catalysts for hardware upgrade cycles and investor enthusiasm around a new form factor. Foldable iPhone supply checks
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” view and set a $315 target, and other surveys point to stronger iPhone upgrade intent (supporting revenue visibility). Analyst optimism
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest data in this cycle shows effectively zero days to cover (no material short pressure), which is unlikely to move the stock materially either way. Short interest note
• Neutral Sentiment: Options/volatility chatter (iron?condor strategies) highlights elevated implied volatility—relevant to derivatives traders but mixed for equity direction. Options strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Supply?side cost pressure: Apple has raised some storage prices and faces higher memory costs; management choices (absorbing costs vs. passing to customers) could pressure margins. Storage price/cost pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk in Europe: broadcasters have urged scrutiny of big tech’s control over smart?TV and AI features, adding a potential regulatory overhang to services and platform expansion. EU regulatory pressure

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.