Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Cut by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,334,771 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 31,563 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.0% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,335,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.26.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.