Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Decreased by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,290,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,790 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.5% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple were worth $286,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $230.56 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $210.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

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.