Fruth Investment Management Has $6.03 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Fruth Investment Management decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,671 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,470 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Fruth Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,537 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,609 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Late‑season strength in iPhone 17 demand suggests the handset cycle could keep Services and upgrade momentum intact — a near‑term revenue tailwind for AAPL. iPhone 17 Demand Lifts AAPL
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan Chase will become the new issuer of the Apple Card, expanding Apple’s financial‑services ecosystem and potentially boosting Services engagement (though direct financial upside for Apple is likely modest). JPMorgan Chase becomes the new issuer of the Apple Card
• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street commentators remain constructive — analysts raising targets and pundits like Jim Cramer arguing Apple deserves a premium multiple on its combination of iPhone strength and AI roadmap. That supports buy‑the‑dip narrative. Analyst lifts Apple stock target to $330
• Neutral Sentiment: Technicals and short‑term positioning: commentators point to an oversold setup and support levels that may produce a rebound, but that depends on catalysts (earnings cadence, AI product news). Stock Of The Day: Is Apple About To Bounce?
• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore and other research houses note overlooked strengths (services, iPhone demand) versus valuation worries — implies mixed near‑term outlook but continued conviction among some buy‑side firms. Apple’s stock falls for the eighth straight day
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / app‑store risk: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to remove X and Grok after reports the AI tools enabled creation/sharing of sexualized images of minors — this raises content‑moderation and legal risk scrutiny tied to app‑store governance. Grok and X should be suspended from Apple, Google app stores
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and AI concerns: chatter about Apple lagging peers in AI, analyst downgrades and Alphabet surpassing Apple in market cap are pressuring sentiment and valuation multiples. Can Apple Enjoy a “Siri Surge” as Apple Catches Up in AI?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and some institutional portfolio rotations have been noted in recent filings, which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if not indicative of fundamental deterioration. QuiverQuant Apple AI strategy and downgrades

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Two research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.07.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AAPL opened at $259.37 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $288.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $272.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.82.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Apple Company 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.