Apple Inc. $AAPL is State of Wyoming’s 4th Largest Position

State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 67.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,079 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.5% of State of Wyoming’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the first quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 20,897 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Trustco Bank Corp N Y boosted its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Trustco Bank Corp N Y now owns 24,738 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,495,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Apple by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 318,413 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $70,729,000 after buying an additional 114,985 shares during the period. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its position in Apple by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 376,678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $83,671,000 after buying an additional 11,386 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 8,704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $221.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.48. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Phillip Securities reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.