NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Sells 2,300 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 233,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.6% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Apple were worth $51,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. grew its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 69,158 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,362,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its position in Apple by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 504,183 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $111,814,000 after purchasing an additional 21,013 shares in the last quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 17,714 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Apple by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 1,075,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $238,892,000 after purchasing an additional 77,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 471,257 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $104,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $219.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.