Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 44,266 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,708,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 44,266 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.6% of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,008,255,000 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 AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.07 and a 12-month high of $317.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed that Siri’s AI overhaul still appears behind rivals, with launch timing stretching into later this year and some features limited to the U.S. at first. Apple shares slide after big Siri AI reveal
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warned that Apple is relying on Google Gemini/Nvidia infrastructure for parts of its advanced AI stack, raising questions about how much of the AI value capture Apple keeps in-house. Apple failed to make its AI tool to comply to EU regulations, EU Commission says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the new Siri features may be held back by older iPhones, limiting the near-term upgrade cycle and the addressable installed base. Apple’s AI Siri will be held back by aging devices, Morgan Stanley says

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.