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

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,708,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 44,266 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 0.6% of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,581,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $429,910,000 after acquiring an additional 78,567 shares in the last quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. now owns 13,793 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 65,003 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $17,672,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Constant Guidance Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Constant Guidance Financial LLC now owns 18,372 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,995,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 418,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,736,000 after purchasing an additional 17,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple News Summary

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 Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $290.55 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.07 and a 1 year high of $317.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $283.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.79. The company has a market cap of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 currently 13.06%.

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.

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