Meitav Investment House Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 81,162 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,001 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $261.73 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $267.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.22. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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%.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results and continued iPhone strength, which underpins revenue and margin resilience. Here’s Why Apple’s Stock Dropped 5% Today
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its price target and bullish analyst notes highlight Apple’s AI roadmap and services upside, offering a longer-term constructive view. Sanford C. Bernstein Raises Apple Price Target to $340.00
• Positive Sentiment: Apple bought full rights to the hit show “Severance” and will produce future seasons in-house — a strategic push for Apple TV+ that can boost content control and margins long term. Apple acquires all rights to Severance, will produce future seasons in-house
• Neutral Sentiment: Vision Pro added YouTube, which improves platform utility, but VR demand is reported to be cooling — a mixed signal for device adoption and services monetization. Apple’s Vision Pro Gets YouTube, but VR Demand Keeps Sliding
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple’s major Siri AI upgrade has run into testing problems and will be delayed, undermining near-term AI momentum and stoking investor concern about execution. Apple has worst day since April as company faces FTC scrutiny, Siri delay reports
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC has publicly raised concerns about alleged bias in Apple News and asked CEO Tim Cook to review curation policies, adding regulatory risk and political headlines that can pressure shares. US FTC airs concerns over allegations that Apple suppresses right-wing content on Apple News
• Negative Sentiment: Wider market AI fears and reports that investors are marking down Apple’s valuation led to an estimated ~$200B market-cap hit as funds rotate away from megacap AI exposure. Apple sees $200 billion market-cap wipeout as stock slides on AI fears

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.