Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ 2nd Largest Position

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,919,534 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,615 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.6% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Apple were worth $646,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 210,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares during the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,616,000 after purchasing an additional 4,590 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $623,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,816,963 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $629,416,000 after purchasing an additional 221,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,309,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $176.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.72.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.