Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Acquires 2,024 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its Apple stake by 7.0% in Q4, acquiring 2,024 shares to hold 30,874 shares worth $8.393 million, making Apple ~6.2% of its assets and its fifth-largest position.
• Analysts show a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average 12‑month target of $297.58, though several firms recently trimmed price targets (e.g., BofA to $320, Citi to $315).
• Apple beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.84, revenue $143.76B, +15.7% YoY), pays a $0.26 quarterly dividend (0.4% yield), and faces mixed catalysts—AI hires, services growth and U.S. manufacturing investment versus broader tech weakness and Mac Pro discontinuation reports.

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,874 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.2% of Spartan Planning & Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management's holdings in Apple were worth $8,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Apple by 98,917.0% during the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,106,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 20,464.8% in 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 raised its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Apple from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $297.58.

Apple Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $248.80 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $260.24 and a 200-day moving average of $262.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush says 2026 could be a significant product year and raises upside potential (they reiterate Outperform and a $350 target), framing WWDC and AI-driven hardware as major catalysts. Apple in focus as Wedbush calls 2026 a 'significant' product launch year ahead of WWDC
• Positive Sentiment: Apple hired ex-Google executive Lilian Rincon as VP of product marketing for AI — a concrete senior hire to accelerate Siri/AI positioning and marketing. Apple hires ex-Google executive to head AI marketing amid push to improve Siri
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple will open Siri to rival AI assistants (Gemini, Claude, etc.) in iOS 27 — this pivot can broaden iPhone AI capabilities without Apple building everything in‑house. Apple Plans to Open Up Siri to Rival AI Assistants in iOS 27 Update
• Positive Sentiment: Services continue to grow (reported ~14% y/y, Apple TV and gaming aiding strength) — recurring high‑margin revenue supports earnings upside even if hardware cycles lag. Strong Streaming & Game Content Aids Apple's Services: What's Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple expands U.S. manufacturing program, adding Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity and committing $400M — reduces supply‑chain risk and supports domestic sourcing narrative. Apple adds Bosch, Cirrus Logic, others to US manufacturing program, to invest $400 million
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is granting rare large stock bonuses to iPhone designers to curb talent departures to AI firms — a retention step to protect future product execution. Apple Drops Six Figure Bonuses To Stop iPhone Talent Exodus
• Neutral Sentiment: An analyst tweak: Erste trimmed FY2027 EPS slightly — minimal change to consensus, but worth watching for estimate revisions. Apple Inc. analyst note (Erste Group) via MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: Steve Wozniak publicly criticizes AI and says he hardly uses it — a reputational/PR datapoint but unlikely to move fundamentals. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak admits he’s ‘disappointed a lot’ by AI and hardly uses it
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech sector weakness — Nasdaq slide, Meta legal losses and geopolitical worries are pressuring tech stocks, which is dragging AAPL despite company‑specific positives. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year, driven down by war worries, Meta legal woes
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple has discontinued the Mac Pro and abandoned future updates could concern pro users and niche revenue, though impact on total revenue is limited. Apple reportedly discontinues Mac Pro, abandons plans for future updates

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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