Johnson Financial Group Inc. Makes New $60.43 Million Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Johnson Financial Group acquired 208,838 Apple shares worth approximately $60.43 million in the second quarter, making Apple its fourth-largest holding and representing 2% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Apple has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $340.14 average price target, although some firms downgraded the stock to “Hold” and lowered their targets.
• Apple recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.02 in EPS and $109.42 billion in revenue, while year-over-year revenue rose 16.4%. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 208,838 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $60,429,000. Apple accounts for 2.0% of Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 822.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC now owns 292,493 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 260,792 shares during the period. Basso Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $109,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,632 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. DZ Bank cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. China Renaissance downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $329.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.14.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $336.13 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $320.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $240.21 and a twelve month high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple's payout ratio is 12.39%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its Apple price target to $380 from $365 and maintained an outperform view. A survey of roughly 4,000 consumers indicated a potentially stronger-than-expected iPhone upgrade cycle and a higher average selling price. iPhone 18 Pro Hits Stores Today
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone 18 Pro sales are supported by carrier trade-in promotions. Bank of America said incentives can offset the $100 price increase, reducing the risk that higher prices will weaken demand. Apple’s iPhone 18 Lineup Keeps Bank of America Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s ecosystem is gaining additional reach. General Motors plans to restore Apple CarPlay after consumer backlash, while Apple is reportedly preparing an Apple Pay launch in India with Axis Bank. These developments could support services engagement and ecosystem adoption. GM Is Re-downloading Apple CarPlay
• Neutral Sentiment: Initial iPhone 18 Pro demand indicators are mixed. Quick-commerce shortages in India suggest strong localized demand, but UBS cited muted wait times in several major markets. Investors are also assessing whether customers may delay purchases for Apple’s roughly $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo. Apple iPhone 18 Seeing Muted Initial Wait Times
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include premium pricing, valuation and regulatory pressure. Analysts warn that expensive devices could limit adoption in price-sensitive markets such as India. More than 1,600 Italian Apple store employees also struck on launch day, while Apple continues to challenge a potential UK encryption backdoor order and faces European legal scrutiny. Italian Apple Store Employees Strike

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple's services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company's ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.

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