Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

Key Points

• The NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan reduced its Apple Inc. holdings by 1.0%, selling 2,300 shares to hold a total of 233,000 shares, which constitutes approximately 6.6% of its investment portfolio.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus of "Moderate Buy" for Apple, with price targets ranging from $180.00 to $245.00.
• Apple reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.57, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% year-over-year increase.

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 233,000 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.6% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings in Apple were worth $51,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $238.99.

Apple Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $237.83. 26,928,241 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,577,613. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $219.28 and a 200 day moving average of $212.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business'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 transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple 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.