Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Increased by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,290,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.7% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple were worth $264,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 4.0% during the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $269.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $277.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $253.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

About Apple

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.