Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lifted by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,984,461 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 93,282 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 6.7% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Apple worth $3,258,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 163,435 shares of company stock valued at $39,376,002. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $1.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $250.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,460,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,133,910. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $238.41 and a 200-day moving average of $228.58. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.