Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,341,186 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 58,564 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.5% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,546,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 16.6% in the first quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 47,694 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,179,000 after buying an additional 6,796 shares during the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 25,004 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares in the last quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,835 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,018 shares during the last quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the first quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the first quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126,294 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,657,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Cfra increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.48 on Friday. 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 cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.