Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,054,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 14,337 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.7% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Apple were worth $264,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.92. 49,654,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,219,123. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.32 and a 200 day moving average of $228.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

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.