Financial Consulate Inc. Invests $20.02 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 78,624 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $20,020,000. Apple makes up about 2.8% of Financial Consulate Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Argus set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 12th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, CLSA lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.0%

AAPL 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $271.79 and a 200-day moving average of $248.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

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.