Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,632,055 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 489,503 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.8% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Apple were worth $1,433,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 41.0% during the second quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $263.75 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

Key Apple News

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)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. KGI Securities upgraded Apple to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.