Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lifted by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,632,055 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 489,503 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.8% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Apple were worth $1,433,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $263.75 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $288.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $264.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.05.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued 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 was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.15%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street analysts reiterated Buy ratings and raised targets, highlighting AI upside and services momentum that support a higher long‑term valuation. Apple: AI-Driven Upgrade Cycle and $340 Target (Bernstein) Sustained Services Momentum and $325 Target (BofA)
• Positive Sentiment: Product launches emphasize Apple’s AI/device strategy: new M5 MacBook Air/Pro with AI enhancements and an updated Studio Display—these support higher ASPs and longer upgrade cycles for professionals. Apple launches new MacBooks (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Apple broadened its addressable market with a budget iPhone 17e ($599) and refreshed iPad Air—moves that help defend share in price‑sensitive markets and support unit volumes. iPhone 17e launch (Reuters)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data reported in feeds is unreliable/zeroed out (odd NaN/0 values), so there’s no clear short‑squeeze story driving today’s action; ignore until confirmed by exchange filings.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical analysts flagged a severe bearish moving‑average crossover, with one commentator warning of a potential pullback toward ~$200—this can amplify selling by momentum/CTA funds. Bearish crossover warning (Finbold)
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile selling by large investors (reports that Warren Buffett trimmed a substantial portion of his Apple stake) is weighing on sentiment and raising questions about near‑term demand expectations. Buffett trimmed Apple stake (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Apple raised MacBook prices amid a global memory‑chip shortage; while price hikes can protect margins, they risk suppressing unit growth and led to an intra‑day stock dip as investors digested demand risk. MacBook price increases (CNBC)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, KGI Securities raised Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.07.

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.