Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New $1.03 Billion Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought 3.57 million Apple shares worth approximately $1.03 billion in the second quarter, making Apple its 24th-largest portfolio holding and representing about 0.6% of its investments.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 67.73%, with several other investment firms also initiating new Apple positions recently.
• Apple reported quarterly revenue of $109.42 billion and earnings of $2.02 per share, both above estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $340.14, while shares recently traded around $337.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,571,020 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,033,310,000. Apple accounts for approximately 0.6% of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Basso Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $187,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reaffirmed its Buy rating and assigned a $370 price target, implying further upside. The firm highlighted improving iPhone 18 Pro Max availability trends, while premium demand remains relatively resilient. BofA Sends Stark Message to Apple Stock Investors on iPhone 18
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new M6 Mac mini and M5 Mac Studio are being marketed as lower-cost alternatives to cloud-based AI infrastructure, potentially expanding Apple’s enterprise opportunity. Their ability to run large AI models locally could create a new hardware growth driver. With new Macs, Apple aims to take on Microsoft and Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple is developing a screenless fitness tracker to compete with Whoop and Oura point to potential long-term expansion in health and wearables, although a launch may not occur until 2028. Apple could take on Whoop with a new fitness tracker

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $337.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.08. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.42 and a 1 year high of $345.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $321.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.19, for a total transaction of $474,813.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,867,873.66. This represents a 4.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 8,632 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Phillip Securities upped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, September 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.14.

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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