Romano Brothers AND Company Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Romano Brothers AND Company trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,358 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.9% of Romano Brothers AND Company’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $255.53 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $271.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.48.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s long-term AI strategy shifted toward a major deal with Google’s Gemini to power the next-generation Siri and Apple Intelligence — a faster route to competitive AI features that could boost services engagement and stickiness. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Apple TV+ is showing momentum and is highlighted as a growing threat to Netflix, which supports the case for accelerating services revenue and margin diversification beyond hardware. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains a core holding inside mega-cap / AI-heavy ETFs that outperformed in 2025; that structural demand supports liquidity and index flows but isn’t a direct company-specific catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Proposed U.S. bill to expand veteran training in emerging tech names Apple among potential beneficiaries (more skilled talent in semiconductors/AI over time) — long-term, indirect. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: India issued a final warning that it will proceed with an antitrust case after delays in Apple’s responses — a move that raises regulatory and large‑fine risk in a key market. That adds tangible downside risk to investor sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cathie Wood’s ARK and other commentators argue Apple’s reliance on Google for core AI models signals strategic weakness — this critique is amplifying short‑term sell‑side debate about Apple’s independence on AI and could pressure the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Memory and storage price spikes are creating headwinds for hardware makers; rising component costs could compress iPhone and Mac margins if Apple cannot fully pass them through. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. DZ Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $283.36 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.07.

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.