6,523,660 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Bought by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,523,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,655,000. Apple makes up 5.6% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $3,460,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Apple by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 21,297 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,333,000 after buying an additional 8,581 shares during the period. McMill Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,145,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,218,000. Finally, Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,576 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,682,000 after buying an additional 12,349 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $196.58 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.