Apple Inc. $AAPL is Teacher Retirement System of Texas' 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• The Teacher Retirement System of Texas has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 12.5%, selling 708,310 shares during the first quarter, while still holding 4,955,786 shares valued at approximately $1.1 billion.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for Apple, with Citigroup increasing theirs from $240 to $245 and Monness Crespi & Hardt elevating it to $270, reflecting a generally positive outlook.
• Apple has announced a $100 billion stock buyback program, indicating that the board believes the shares are currently undervalued, while also maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,955,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 708,310 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.6% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Apple were worth $1,100,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.98.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $228.41. The company had a trading volume of 24,751,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,281,676. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.89 and a 200 day moving average of $213.13. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company 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.