Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is California Public Employees Retirement System’s 2nd Largest Position

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,628,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,686 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.6% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.25% of Apple worth $7,437,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management raised its position in Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.71.

Apple Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $186.88 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.