State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 29,989 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,362,038 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 29,989 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.1% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,249,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.3% during the third quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,965,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 102,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,356,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 893,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $208,301,000 after buying an additional 48,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 106.8% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 116,344 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,108,000 after buying an additional 60,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $240.95 and a 200-day moving average of $230.56. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

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.