Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,238,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,856 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.2% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apple were worth $260,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Sequent Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Savior LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $248,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $232.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.39. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

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.