Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ Sells 1,400 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,800 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 8.5% of Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Apple by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. ODonnell Financial Services LLC raised its position in Apple by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. ODonnell Financial Services LLC now owns 35,003 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Lanham O Dell & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lanham O Dell & Company Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,279,719 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $531,166,000 after buying an additional 28,488 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.08. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.