Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ’s Largest Position

Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 8.0% of Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth about $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Apple by 14.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.98 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.