Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 11,108 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,681,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,108 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.6% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple were worth $426,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,902,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.71.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $327.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $304.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.89. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.50 and a 12-month high of $334.99. The company has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly launching a new device leasing program with Klarna, a major change to how it sells hardware that could support upgrade demand and recurring device sales. Reuters: Apple to launch ‘Upgrade’ device leasing program to spur sales, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple, saying it is entering a powerful new upgrade cycle supported by AI and a strong hardware roadmap. Barchart: HSBC Says Apple Is Entering a Powerful New Upgrade Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentators highlighted Apple’s pricing power, strong installed base, and relative insulation from the AI capex arms race as reasons investors are favoring AAPL over some other mega-cap tech names. MarketBeat: Apple Stock Sends Major Warning Signal as Momentum Hits Peak

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.