Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.3%, selling 67,844 shares, but it remains the largest holding, valued at approximately $1.17 billion.
• Apple has announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan, a move generally seen as a signal that its management believes the shares are undervalued.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.26, reflecting a growing commitment to return value to shareholders.

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,266,927 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 67,844 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Apple were worth $1,169,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $208.82. The company had a trading volume of 13,029,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,191,012. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $205.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

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.