Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Reduced by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,214,077 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 95,717 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.0% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Apple were worth $804,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Apple by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $201.70. The company had a trading volume of 35,334,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,145,385. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $202.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.84. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.