5,451,847 Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL Acquired by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,451,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,211,019,000. Apple makes up 5.1% of Strs Ohio’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.80.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.07 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.