Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is New York State Teachers Retirement System’s Largest Position

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,984,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,282 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.7% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,258,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $250.42 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.43. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,435 shares of company stock worth $39,376,002 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.