Romano Brothers AND Company Has $26.65 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Romano Brothers AND Company trimmed its Apple stake by 2.0%, selling 2,022 shares and now holds 98,037 shares worth $26,652,000, making AAPL its third-largest holding (~3.0% of assets).
• Major institutional moves include Norges Bank and Nuveen initiating very large positions (about $38.94B and $17.47B respectively) while Northern Trust increased holdings to 171,385,531 shares, and institutions now own roughly 67.73% of Apple.
• Apple beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.84 versus $2.67 and revenue of $143.76B (+15.7% YoY), and it recently paid a $0.26 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.04, ~0.4% yield).

Romano Brothers AND Company reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,037 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,022 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.0% of Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings in Apple were worth $26,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $255.92 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.56.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Top investor endorsement — Billionaire Ken Griffin lists Apple among his five best stock picks, highlighting institutional conviction and potential buying support. 5 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Ken Griffin
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing — Bank of America reiterates a Buy and cites accelerating services growth and on‑device AI upside, supporting a premium valuation thesis and positive analyst flow. Apple: Accelerating Services Growth and On‑Device AI Upside Support Premium Valuation and Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. manufacturing boost — Apple expands its U.S. manufacturing program with a reported $400M investment, a politically favorable move that can reduce supply risk and support margin/PR. Apple Inc. (AAPL) expands US manufacturing program with $400M investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive narrative around Apple at 50 — Extensive coverage of Apple’s 50th anniversary reminds investors of the company’s long-term durability, but raises governance/succession questions that are medium‑term rather than catalytic. Apple At 50 Weighs AI Partnerships Satellite Ties And Succession
• Neutral Sentiment: AI positioning debate — Coverage highlights a strategic pivot toward opening Siri to third‑party AI assistants and other AI moves; this reduces long-term AI execution risk but timing and monetization remain uncertain. Apple's AI Strategy Is Pivoting. Here's Why That Could Be Great News for the Stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Satellite dependency risk — Reports that Amazon is in talks to buy Globalstar (Apple’s satellite partner for Emergency SOS/messaging) raise competitive and supply‑chain uncertainty for Apple’s satellite features. Amazon Lines Up Deal to Rival SpaceX's Starlink: Report. Why Apple Could Be a Problem.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation pressure — Commentary points to a rich trailing and forward P/E (high 20s–30s) that’s prompting profit‑taking and making AAPL sensitive to any slowdown in growth or disappointment on AI execution. Is Apple Stock Overvalued Or Undervalued?
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical / macro risk — Headlines about potential targeting of U.S. tech firms and broader Mag‑7 weakness amplify downside risk if tensions or macro selloffs persist. AAPL Stock on Watch: Iran Threatens Retaliatory Strikes Could Hit Apple Next

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment 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 MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $297.58.

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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