Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 5,790 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 0.4%, holding 1,290,097 shares, which accounts for 5.5% of its investment portfolio.
• Apple's stock was recently trading at $226.01 and the company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30.
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing a 0.5% dividend yield, with an annualized payout of $1.04.

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,290,097 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,790 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.5% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's holdings in Apple were worth $286,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.98.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $3.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $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 fifty day moving average of $211.89 and a 200-day moving average of $213.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.