Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s Largest Position

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,575,218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 213,180 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.6% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,396,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after acquiring an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.00.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $217.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.69. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.92 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.