Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $315.93 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,261,600 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 43,400 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.9% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Apple were worth $315,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Advisors Northwest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,142,000. David Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $1,618,000. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Apple by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 32,672 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 13,603 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 3,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgeline Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $252,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.79. 51,328,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. 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 12 month low of $164.77 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $219.65 and its 200-day moving average is $230.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.