Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Lifted by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 23.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,414,514 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 458,683 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.0% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Apple were worth $495,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its position in Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $278.78 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush set a $350.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.51.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.