State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,575,218 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 213,180 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.6% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Apple were worth $1,396,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during 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 period. FMR LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

AAPL stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $209.28. The company had a trading volume of 38,183,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,765,391. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $215.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.31. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.11 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade 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 through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.88.

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.