Sterling Investment Advisors LLC ADV Sells 7,308 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Sterling Investment Advisors LLC ADV decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 88.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 936 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,308 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors LLC ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Apple News

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 Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.78 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Melius Research set a $345.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.13.

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.