Vestcor Inc Has $85.52 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Vestcor Inc raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 385,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,007 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.9% of Vestcor Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $85,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $147,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple 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 value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $239.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $218.50 and its 200 day moving average is $212.89. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.05.

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.