Ethos Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 23.3% in Q4 to 84,772 shares (about $23.05M), making AAPL ~1.7% of its portfolio and its 9th largest holding.
• Apple faces major near-term catalysts and sentiment swings after an internal succession naming John Ternus as CEO (Tim Cook to become Executive Chair) and promotion of Johny Srouji to Chief Hardware Officer, with mixed market reaction, unusual put activity and earnings on April 30 likely to increase volatility.

Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,772 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 16,023 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.7% of Ethos Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Ethos Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $23,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board-approved internal succession to John Ternus signals continuity and a hardware-first CEO who knows Apple’s product roadmap — could accelerate device and M-series hardware initiatives that drive revenue. Who is John Ternus, Apple's new CEO?
• Positive Sentiment: Immediate internal promotion of Johny Srouji to Chief Hardware Officer preserves engineering depth and reduces execution risk on chips and hardware — helpful given Apple’s silicon roadmap. Johny Srouji named Apple's Chief Hardware Officer
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media support remains: Goldman maintains a bullish $330 target ahead of earnings; Jim Cramer and some strategists highlight Apple’s AI and hardware advantages — these views can help underpin sentiment into earnings. Goldman Sachs Holds $330 Target
• Neutral Sentiment: The transition is staged for Sept. 1 with Tim Cook remaining CEO through the summer to work with Ternus — the runway reduces immediate operational disruption but extends the period of leadership uncertainty. Apple press release on CEO transition
• Neutral Sentiment: Near-term calendar: earnings after the close on April 30 remain the closest fundamental catalyst; leadership news may amplify volatility into the report. Apple's Q2 2026 Earnings: What to Expect
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction was mixed — reports show shares dipped in after-hours trading as some investors questioned whether a hardware-focused CEO can sustain Cook’s growth and margin track record. That uncertainty can pressure the stock near-term. VIEW Apple CEO Cook is lauded by investors
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: Apple has withheld data in an India antitrust probe and faces possible large penalties there — a high‑impact regulatory overhang if the case escalates. Apple withholds data in India antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Options and positioning: unusual put activity ahead of earnings suggests some investors are hedging or betting on near-term downside around the combination of leadership news and the upcoming results. Apple Has Unusual Put Options Activity

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 27th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $301.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $273.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.28. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $189.81 and a 1 year high of $288.62. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple's dividend 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.

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