New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,286,514 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 697,947 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 7.0% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,327,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

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.