Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $18.74 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,477 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.6% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. WD Rutherford LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the third quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 29,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,508,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253,776 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,619,000 after purchasing an additional 35,764 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 169,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,239,000 after purchasing an additional 32,959 shares during the last quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department boosted its position in Apple by 7.0% in the third quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 131,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,456,000 after buying an additional 8,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 217,560 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $55,397,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat — Apple reported revenue of ~$143.8B and EPS $2.84, topping Street estimates and showing 16% revenue growth driven largely by iPhone strength. Reuters: Apple sales, profit beat
• Positive Sentiment: Upbeat guidance on margins — Management projected gross margins above expectations for the next quarter, reassuring investors that Apple can absorb higher memory costs through product mix and pricing. MarketWatch: Tim Cook addresses margin question
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone, China and installed base tailwinds — Record iPhone revenue (~$85B) and a big China rebound (double‑digit growth) plus an active installed base above 2.5B support services and upgrade opportunity. Benzinga: iPhone demand and installed base
• Neutral Sentiment: AI M&A signals intent — Apple bought audio‑AI startup Q.ai, strengthening its audio/voice AI capabilities, but the deal provides strategic signal more than immediate revenue upside. TechCrunch: Apple acquires Q.ai
• Neutral Sentiment: Services growth held up but was broadly in line with expectations, so the quarter’s upside was driven mainly by hardware mix rather than a surprise services acceleration. MarketBeat: Earnings and call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Supply constraints — Apple said it couldn’t fully satisfy iPhone demand because of chip constraints, implying some near‑term upside was supply‑limited rather than demand‑capped. CNBC: Apple can’t secure enough chips
• Negative Sentiment: Rising component costs — Analysts flagged higher memory prices and cost pressure; investors remain watchful whether margin guidance can hold if input costs continue to climb. WSJ: Investors focus on higher costs
• Negative Sentiment: AI clarity still limited — Management declined to add material detail on broader AI strategy and how Gemini/partnered models will monetize at scale, leaving an open question for longer‑term growth expectations. TalkMarkets: Can Apple shake off AI struggles?

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.80.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $258.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $268.62 and its 200 day moving average is $251.07. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

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.