Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Has $4.87 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,289 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 901,105 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $154,278,000 after purchasing an additional 19,724 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,342 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 4,279 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,672 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 47,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Finally, Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 266,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $45,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $189.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $175.89 and a 200-day moving average of $183.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.