Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,380,412 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,261,336 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.2% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.19% of Apple worth $7,226,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 41.0% during the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $255.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.51. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Argus set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.13.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone momentum and quarter results — iPhone 17 sales and overall revenue remained robust, supporting fundamentals and cushioning the pullback. Zacks: Strong iPhone Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Legal victory removes a potential multi?hundred?million dollar liability — a U.S. jury rejected Optis Wireless’ 4G patent claims, reducing near-term litigation risk. Benzinga: Optis Verdict
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target, reflecting confidence in Apple’s growth trajectory and giving investors a bullish reference point. Bernstein PT Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Content and services moves — Apple acquired full rights to the hit show “Severance” and added YouTube to Vision Pro, which are strategically positive for services but unlikely to move near?term earnings materially. TechCrunch: Severance Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Major shareholder cash flow note — Berkshire Hathaway received a large Apple dividend, underscoring Apple’s cash returns but also spotlighting Berkshire’s large position dynamics. Finbold: Berkshire Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Siri AI upgrade delays and testing problems — reports that the Siri overhaul is running into accuracy and speed problems forced Apple to push features back, directly hitting the AI narrative investors were pricing in. CNBC: Siri Delay / Market Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk from FTC letter over Apple News — the FTC chair urged review of Apple News curation amid accusations of political bias, adding regulatory/legal uncertainty and headline risk. NYT: FTC Letter
• Negative Sentiment: Fund flow and institutional trimming amid sector pressure — several funds reduced Apple exposure and broader “Magnificent Seven” weakness amplified the selloff, raising short?term downside pressure. Barron’s: Institutional Moves

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.